


Nailing the Sword

by CosmicEclipse



Category: Parahumans Series - Wildbow
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:15:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 56
Words: 150,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24927538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CosmicEclipse/pseuds/CosmicEclipse
Summary: Taylor and a group of other disillusioned teens are given powers that easily surpass even the most powerful parahumans on Earth Bet. They don't take Brockton Bay by storm, but they do make waves with long reaching consequences.
Comments: 174
Kudos: 373





	1. Scabbard 1.1

**Author's Note:**

> AN: I finally have enough material, I think, to warrant posting some Worm fanfic. It's one of my favorite stories, so if you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. Especially because it's free at Parahumans dot wordpress. This story is going to have a bit of Bleach tossed in, mostly aspects from the Espada, if you couldn't tell by the title. I'm not ripping parts of Bleach wholesale, but playing with the concepts of the Espada and what they are (Aspects of Death) and using the Worm characters to do so. I wanted to wait until I had at least a whole arc done before posting, but I have a few chapters, and that'll be enough. The next 6 chapters after this are basically all interludes/character studies though, so eh. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

I really wanted to light up.

Not for any particular reason, I just really felt like smoking. Honestly it was probably too early to start since it was only half an hour into Mrs. Knott's class. I, of course, had finished my work, but now I was bored beyond belief. Probably why I wanted to smoke so bad. I'd reached a point of apathy a few months back, in January, but not apathetic enough to just light a cigarette in the middle of the class taught by the only teacher I had a positive opinion of. So I tried to keep myself occupied with the internet. I scrolled through PHO for interesting threads. I'd basically memorized everything I could about local capes and the gangs they belonged to, so there wasn't much point in that.

There was a thread about a cape fight in downtown the previous night, a thread about Trigger Events, a thread about where the Nine might be, some (really far too many) about how hot capes were and what they looked like under their masks, and the fifteenth iteration of a thread of people designing capes for fun. I tended to explicitly avoid the parts of the forum that was full of tinfoil hats and fan fiction writers. I had no idea what their obsession with Capes banging was, but I wanted no part of it.

I checked the clock and found only fifteen minutes had passed.

I really needed to fucking smoke.

"Mrs. Knott, can I go to the restroom?" I asked.

"Sure, dear." She said.

I stood up, grabbing my stuff because I didn't trust a soul in this building, and walked out. Luckily for me the bathrooms were a bit far from Knott's class, so I could get away with smoking a bit longer than I would other wise. I walked down the hallway, aware of everywhere someone might see me, then turned a corner.

If someone had been following me it would have looked like I pulled an escape maneuver out of a movie. One of my powers let me just remove myself from the regular plane of existence. Everything looked the same, there were just no other people. I also couldn't really interact with things. Anything that wasn't the floor beneath my feet I could walk through like a ghost. Though for some reason I could still sit on things if I wanted.

I pulled my cigarettes from the inside pocket of my hoodie and snapped my fingers. A blue flame lit on my thumb and I brought it to the cancer stick hanging loosely from my mouth. I shook my hand and the flame went away. Whatever form of energy control I had was super useful for mundane things.

I grimaced slightly, thinking about my powers. I was strong. Extremely powerful by even the highest cape standards, but they were weird. I could tell, inherently, that I wasn't really a cape. I had powers, but I had far too many extremely strong abilities to be a regular cape. Even a grab-bag. They had a bunch of small abilities and maybe one big one. I just had a bunch of abilities that would make for powerful capes all on their own.

Then there was my tattoo.

I slipped my glove off my left hand. The number "1" was tattooed on the back of my left hand when I got my powers. It just showed up with my abilities. I had an idea there would be more people like me at some point just by looking at it, but I had no way of knowing when they'd show up.

I pulled the cigarette from my lips and tossed it to the ground, not bothering to stomp it out. Not like anything could burn in this dimension. I took a peek into the real world to make sure no one was around before fully reappearing. I walked back into class feeling much better than I had before.

—

I really hated Mr. Gladly. He and Blackwell were some of the few people I could actually manage to muster the emotion to actually feel negative about. He was just… So transparent. He knew about everything, knew who did it, but never bothered to try to stop it. He just let everything slide because he wanted his students to like him. I didn't really know what his deal was, but I knew whatever it was made me actively dislike him. I looked him dead in the eyes as one of Madison's friends dumped pencil shavings in my hair and he didn't say a damn thing about it. Never was I happier to leave a classroom then at the end of his.

Even with his class being right before lunch, I was glad to leave it. An hour might have been a bit too long when my bullies could actually do anything to me, but now they'd be lucky to find me any time before the bell rang. I wasn't so lucky today, however. The second I walked out of class I was ambushed by Sophia, Emma, and their Groupies. I could easily get out of this situation, and I wouldn't say I was all that shy about using my powers, but the last thing I needed was the PRT breathing down my neck. Emma and Sophia would definitely go straight to the government to get me in trouble if they had the faintest idea I had powers.

They started with the insults immediately, doing this thing where they were talking to each other but still directly insulting me. I didn't really care. I was over all of them. They had me backed against the window, which I was staring out of absently. I reached into my jacket, laughing slightly through my nose when some of the girls backed away, and pulled out a cigarette. They all seemed to relax when they realized it wasn't a weapon. Not that I'd need one to send them all to the depths of hell. I pulled a lighter from my pocket, the fancy Zippo ones, and with practiced ease popped it open against my leg with a back swipe and lit it on the return. I popped it closed when my smoke was lit and pocketed the lighter.

"Wow, smoking now? I didn't realize you were so pathetic." Emma said.

I took a deep drag before turning to her and blowing the smoke out my nose right into her face. The girls coughed and waved it away while Sophia grimaced at me.

"Oh, you think smoking makes you cool, is that it?" Sophia asked.

"No. I smoke because I want to. Hey, did you know your name comes from a Greek word, Sophia?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"I'll get to it. The word it's from means "Knowledge"." I blow another cloud of smoke from my nose, upsetting all of them. "But the word I think fits you most is "Sophist". Which is someone who pretends to be smart without really knowing anything." I said.

"Yeah?" She asked, stepping up to me.

"Yeah." I say, blowing smoke in her face.

I hear her growl and grab my shirt.

"Say something again. I dare you."

"You truly live up to the title. Pretty little sophist."

She scoffed, pushing me back against the window.

"I don't have to listen to the opinions of prey."

"Prey, huh? Is that how you see the world?" I asked.

"I call it like I see it." Sophia said.

"What a pathetic way of looking at the world. So animalistic."

"Are you calling me an animal?!"

"I call it like I see it." I said.

She swung at me. I dodged the blow. It wouldn't do to get outed from her breaking her fist on my face. As I dodged her second hit I noticed Gladly watching from his room. Spineless coward. I dodged back towards his door as Sophia tried to tackle me. She turned back to me, steaming mad and rushed forward. She was too good a fighter to run at me with her fist raised like an amateur, but it still wasn't hard to dodge her attack and send her shoulder charging right through Gladly's door and into the man himself. The realization she'd just barreled a teacher over seemed to sober her up real quick.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Gladly. Taylor tripped me."

"It's alright. Just see that it doesn't happen again." He said, not seeming at all bothered that she'd just flown through the door and right into his arms.

I scoffed and walked off. If anything came of this incident I'd probably be the one getting in trouble. And that was assuming it wasn't just swept under the rug as usual.

—

Recently I had found few things as peaceful as listening to music while eating lunch on the roof of the school. I was Isolating myself, so there were no birds or other people to watch so it was lonely, but it was better than having to deal with being bullied. A person to talk to would be nice, though. Even about mundane nothings like how clear the sky was.

I had slipped my gloves off to eat and was staring at the tattoo again.

Even as I ate my sandwich I couldn't stop staring at that number. I knew, to some degree, what it was, but the idea was too abstract to really wrap my head around. The number was relevant for more than just that it was related to my powers, too. Almost all my abilities, for some reason, were related to being alone. I could Isolate myself from reality, become intangible, manipulate space, and even stop things from happening. All my powers centered around making sure nothing could really affect me if I didn't want it to.

I chuckled to myself, dry and sarcastic. Even my powers were trying to keep me from making connections. Not that it really mattered. The chances of me actually making friends with anyone before high school ended was slim to none at this point. I was honestly beginning to doubt I'd really make a friend again at this rate.

I pulled myself from my funk to check the time. Five minutes until math. I finished my food, slipped my gloves back on, and walked right through the roof access door like it wasn't there.

—

I was glad to finally make it home for the day. Usually, at least. Every since I'd been pulled out of that locker Dad had been even more withdrawn. He even started drinking, not really caring whether I saw or not. Not even the fact that the dock workers were getting more work seemed to cheer him up. I did try to talk to him, but he was usually too tired or just not in the mood. Which actually annoyed me, somewhat. I'd been so withdrawn, we both had, since mom died. Then the bullying started and he was too lost in his own grief to notice something _was_ wrong while I was trying to hide that anything was wrong. Now that I was actually trying to reconnect with him I was just annoyed that he couldn't pull himself out of his funk long enough to entertain a conversation with me.

Most nights were me cleaning the house after school, doing a bit of homework, making dinner, then trying to coax even a menial conversation out of him. I was usually lucky to get him to talk about his day for a few minutes. Even better if he decided not to have a beer or two with dinner.

Tonight was not one of those nights. He went straight for the fridge after getting home and popped a beer open, barely grunting out a greeting to me before sitting on the couch to wait for dinner. He was at least a bit tipsy by the time I finished the food and I could barely get more than a few words out of him.

I really had no idea what had gotten him to this point. He was just… He was so down on himself for seemingly no reason. I had an idea I thought my cheer him up.

"Dad." I said, coming down the stairs.

"Yeah?" He asked, not looking up from the T.V. He was slumped into the couch like a stoner with a beer in hand.

"I was wondering if you wanted to watch a movie with me. You like Casablanca, right? I've never seen it, but since we have it on DVD I thought we could watch it together."

He seemed to perk up at the idea. He checked the time and shook his head.

"Sorry, kiddo, I've got to get to work early tomorrow. I should head to bed." He said, dragging himself off the couch. I helped him steady himself.

"Oh… Alright." I said. "Goodnight."

"Night." He mumbled before stumbling up the stairs.

I stood in the living room until I heard his door close. I took a look around the living room. It wasn't too bad. He'd knocked over some magazines, and there were a few beer cans on the table and floor, but nothing too bad.

I sighed as I started grabbing the cans.

"I really need a fucking smoke."

—

I found myself in that room again. I ended up there most nights. It was a calm, quiet place just for me and whoever else ended up like me. There were no walls in this room, just a floor, numbered black thrones, and an infinite purple star scape. The thrones were set in an obvious hierarchy with 1 at the top of a set of stairs maybe three feet off the ground and 6 and 7 at the ends on floor level. Each throne had more than enough space for two of me to sit in comfortably. They looked to be made of a black stone, but they were still comfortable to sit in. The numbers were carved into the back of each throne, proudly depicting the number above the head of the would be owner.

The sky went on forever. The light that filtered into the area was purple yet didn't color anything while the sky was still black and every star could be seen with clarity. If it wasn't the fact that this place was so weird, I would have had questions. Well, I did have questions, but I didn't really care to have them answered. As long as this place remained somewhere safe for me to relax and stargaze, I wasn't going to complain.

Taking a seat on my throne, I leaned back and got comfortable before sliding a cigarette between my lips, snapping my fingers, and lighting up. I sat there for minutes, staring off into the sky and listening to my CD player.

"God I wish I had someone to talk to." I sighed, blowing smoke.

My wish was answered as the air in front of the steps split open in the familiar tooth like pattern and someone stepped through.


	2. Interlude 1.a

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't started ward yet, but I've been poking around through Glowworm. It's interesting to me that Madison was the only one to feel remorse for the Bullying. Sophia didn't care and Emma tried to rationalize it to the end. This is just Madison feeling remorse far earlier than in canon. This chapter, and the next few, are really short for what they are, at just over 1k words. Interlude 1.c is the longest at nearly 2k. I've been trying to decide if I want to post them weekly or not since they're so short, but I'm still not done with Arc 1 by this point, so that's probably what I'll do. Anyway, enjoy.

Madison stared at herself in the bathroom mirror. Her eyes were dull and lifeless and she felt like she was getting bags from not sleeping well. She pulled down on her cheeks to widen her eyes. Her sclera were red despite her not crying. She couldn't really muster any actual emotion recently. She could fake it, that wasn't hard, but it was tiring. Constantly putting up with the social vultures she tentatively called friends. Putting on the cutesy act all the time to maintain her status. Bullying Taylor Hebert. It drained her.

All of it made her feel so… So hollow. At first she'd joined in on bullying Taylor because it was basically free social points. She got to be with the popular girls and free from their wrath, as well as being protected from anyone else who may try to come after her. It was little pranks at first. Pencil shavings in her hair, spilling stuff on her, calling her names. Generally school yard things. Then it all started escalating. She'd gotten a top spot with Emma and Sophia and now she had to constantly work to maintain it. That included thinking up bigger and more damaging pranks and spamming her email accounts with horrid messages. The longer it went on, the more empty she felt.

Now, she could barely muster the emotion needed for a frown, let alone a genuine smile. She brought her hands down and pulled the edges of her mouth up into a smile. She forced her muscles to stay there. She looked so wrong. A forced smile anyone should have been able to see. Sure, it looked real at a glance, but staring at her face in the mirror, just looking at the smile for more than a second, she could see it wasn't in her eyes.

She sighed, sagging down as the tension in her body released. Hanging out with Emma and Sophia was a job in and of itself. The former was a sociopath, having seemingly thrown away her emotions to be "strong". As if mocking someone for being sad that her mother died was strength. As if systematically torturing someone you grew up with was strength. As if shoving someone in that…

She shuddered at the thought of the Locker.

She almost broke down when Taylor hadn't been back to school for almost a month. She'd almost thought she had a hand in killing Taylor. She wouldn't be able to live with that. Sophia had threatened her pretty severely to keep her mouth shut in case Taylor did actually die. What kind of sick motherfucker threatens to string up someone's cat? Psychopaths do that. That's what Sophia was. No remorse for anything she did and no problem hurting others who didn't align with her world view. The only reason she hadn't been on the receiving end of Emma and Sophia's wrath was because she continued to play the role of "Predator".

She thought back to Taylor and Sophia's fight earlier that day. She actually felt a bit amused at how things had played out. She had seen Mr. Gladly watching and doing nothing and almost found herself gagging at the smile on his face at catching Sophia when Taylor had sent her through the door like a Matador dodging a bull. Emma had seemed a little satisfied at Taylor talking back while Sophia was obviously just mad about it. Especially the animal comment, but she'd more than earned it at this point.

Madison flopped back onto her bed and looked around her room. It looked like a child lived here. It was why she'd never invited Emma or Sophia over after the first time. They made fun of her stuffed animals and all the things she liked. The fact they didn't seem to be joking was the first time she really questioned their friendship. The constantly escalating abuse of Taylor had made her realize she didn't really want to be friends with them. She just didn't have a way out at this point.

She lazily reached her arm over and tapped play on her CD player. The most recent album from her favorite boy band wasn't all that great, but it was better than being left to the crushing silence of her room to stew in how empty she felt. The music didn't really help her emptiness, but it let her not think about it for a little while. The ability to just stop thinking would be one she'd welcome with open arms. Maybe then she could play her part without all the guilt. Maybe then she wouldn't feel so bad about the lengths she took to stay where she was in the social hierarchy. She couldn't decide if the fact she even felt guilt in the first place worked to partially absolve her of her sins, but it wasn't a question she ever felt like lingering on.

While the music played she felt herself drift away. The light and sound and feeling of her bed faded away, leaving her floating in a massive void. There was nothing but her and she had never felt more at home. The weightlessness of the void and the comfort of just being with no peripheral thoughts or worries of what was to come. No guilt over the things she'd done or her dwindling will to continue to do those things. It was moments like these that she lived for now. Moments were she could just drift away and let all her worries and troubles fade into the ether. It was the most relaxed she'd been able to feel recently.

Suddenly, like a bolt of lightning, She snapped up, suddenly back in her room.

She couldn't be sure what the sensation was, but she felt… Different was too broad to describe it. She still felt hollow, empty, numb, but now she didn't mind it. In fact, it felt like it served a purpose now. Standing, She drew a finger across the air, unsure what she was trying to accomplish. Until the line appeared. The air in front of her snapped open with jagged rectangles shaped like the gaping maw of some horrible monster. But she didn't fear it. She wasn't capable of that anymore.

She stepped through with no real consideration of what was on the other side.


	3. Interlude 1.b

Lisa Wilbourn.

The blonde girl rolled the name over in her head until it lost meaning. Even now, over a year after taking the name, she had to do remind herself that was what she went by. She couldn't afford to slip up and not respond to the name. She could act like she'd been thinking, easy enough with her particular set of powers, but it was still a practice to be able to respond to the name. Not even because her birth name was "Sarah Livsey" but because she had been living so long prepared to just drop who she was and be someone new that she'd effectively stopped considering herself as having any other name than "Tattletale". She could take up any number of other "real names", but she'd always be Tattletale, in and out of costume. Sort of how that Aleph comic character thought of himself as "Batman" even when he wasn't in costume.

Truly, she'd only picked Lisa because she liked the way it sounded. Allison… No, Alice, was what she'd use next. She knew she had a card with that name on it, but wasn't sure what the last name on it was. It didn't really matter since it wasn't like she could use it now anyway. She had gotten herself more than a few fake IDs made all with different names, birthdays, ages, even home states. She kept them all hidden now, but if she was able to get from under Coils thumb and things as Lisa didn't quite work out she could just drop off the face of the earth for a while and pick a new name.

Of course, getting rid of Coil was a number one priority. The bastard was sick and had no problems using torture, drugs, or even threats of rape to keep people, especially her, in line. It wasn't even that he was a total bastard all the time, he paid well at least, but his constant snake like condescension was annoying. The real deal breaker was that he'd stolen her freedom from her. Just like her parents he'd locked her away in a cage to use his power for his own gain. Sure, it was at least a gilded cage now, but a cage is a cage and she didn't want to be in one.

"I kinda wish I drank just so I didn't have to think about this." She said to herself as she dragged herself from her bed and into her kitchen. It was late, almost midnight, but she felt like grabbing some ice cream. "Midnight sweets always helps me curb the worst of my existential despair."

And that's really what her life was at this point. Just a pit of despair. She could honestly say she enjoyed some of her job. Brian was a good friend and the Undersiders were just the kind of group she'd be okay being a part of, but when it came down to it she was just running from her feelings. The pit of despair she lived in had only grown deeper throughout her life.

Growing up in a rich family, being born with that silver spoon, was what a lot of people really wanted. It really all did seem perfect to her, too. The money, the big house, all the _things_ she wanted whenever she wanted. The only thing that could have made it better was her brother focusing on her instead of his girlfriend. Then he killed himself and the rose tinted glasses fell away. She realized her mother wanted the money that came with marrying her father and her father only wanted a wife to further his political and business goals. Her and her brother were simply ornaments to them. Things to dangle in front of others and show how _perfect_ their family was. They didn't care. Her father hadn't even been sad about her brother's death. Just _embarrassed_ by the fact he'd committed suicide. She'd noticed something was wrong maybe a few days before he killed himself and she nearly drove herself mad trying to figure out what she could have done to stop it.

Even now she still blamed herself.

After that her parents had found out she triggered and forced her to play the stock market to line their pockets. It took over two months before she tired of them using her as a money machine and stole a couple thousand dollars and skipped town. They put out an Amber Alert on her because she was a valuable asset to them. She knew as a fact they wouldn't have cared if she wasn't making them hundreds of thousands of dollars before she left. Nothing terrified her more than being sent back to them. She eventually ended up in Brockton Bay. Living on the streets of the Bay wasn't all that bad. Despite being one of the more dangerous cities in New England, the Bay was surprisingly safe for her to live at first. The homeless shelter was really helpful and gave her a place to stay while she got on her feet in a new city.

Then Coil found her.

She had no idea how, either. Her power wouldn't have been apparent to anyone who hadn't spent a decent amount of time with her she'd never gone to the PRT so his moles there wouldn't have done him any use. The only way he could have found her was with his own power, which she very much wished she could figure out so she could get rid of the bastard. Until then, though, she was stuck following his orders and stuck being his little informant for how he could best take over the city.

And now her ice cream was half melted.

Great. She'd spent so much time in her head that she basically had sweet soup now. Just another drop in the bucket at this point. She finished her ice cream and sat back into the couch, basically sinking into it.

"Is this really all I have to look forward to in life?" She asked herself. It was a good question. Was she really always going to have people trying to keep her in their cages, using her for their own ends. Her power was useful, sure but it wasn't like she was a precog. She couldn't tell the future, she could just make very educated guesses. She was like Sherlock Holmes on uppers. Or Moriarty since she played the villain.

More than anything, though, she hated being alone. Bedtime was always the worst part of her day, especially when she stayed at her apartment instead of at the Loft with her team. She was alone and just had to sit with her thoughts, her own power trying to psychoanalyze her. Ironic considering she did it to others whenever she felt like it in costume.

In the depths of her thoughts she felt something. Like a twitch but in her head. If the brain was capable of spasming enough to feel, that would be what she'd say she felt. Only with that spasm came something else. A sudden… acceptance of her life. Not that she was okay with how things were, but an acceptance that while everything was fucked, she could deal with it.

She stood, slicing a finger across the air and watching in awe as it opened up like teeth leading to a black void.

"Well," She said, "Might as well see what this is about."

Lisa stepped through the hole more fascinated by it than anything else.


	4. Interlude 1.c

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so slight change of plans. I'm moving 2 of the character interludes to later and double posting the other 2 now. The other Character Interludes are probably going to be folded into the end of a longer interlude for that character. One of them may not even get introduced this arc, actually. Anyway, Just a quick update on how that's going of you were interested.

Life was fucking boring.

Alec, born Jean-Paul Vasil, often found himself bored with everything around him. The game he was playing now certainly wasn't helping. Sitting on the couch in the Undersiders hideout he let his mind drift between matches. His father turning him into a Sociopath was the root cause of his emotional deficit. Growing up in a den of hedonism even the Ancient Greeks would have called excessive tends to do that to young children. Especially when your father uses his powers to twist your mind until you snap and trigger. Before he left that pit of hell he'd been made to do a lot of things he didn't want to do back then. Hell, he had even been forced to take control of his one of his fathers women and march her around the compound like a puppet made of meat. He'd never known which of them was his mother. It was impossible to tell since they all took care of the kids. If she hadn't been so thoroughly fucked up by Heartbreaker's powers she probably would have been horrified of him. But no, she wasn't. In fact, she _thanked him_ for it. For using her. Everyone Nikos Vasil had taken control of had been twisted to enjoy whatever he chose to do to them. Any person in that compound that wasn't one of his children would actively thank Alec for taking control of them and doing whatever he wished.

It was that particular quirk of growing up that had truly messed him up. Growing up in the Cape version of a hyper sexualized hippie compound was one thing, but being encouraged and thanked and begged to use his powers on people was what really caused him to drop whatever moral compass he still had at that point down a deep, deep pit. If not for the fact that Heartbreaker was a twisted voyuer he might have stayed. The problem, more than anything, was Heartbreaker's voyeurism. Forcing all of them to perform for him. Anything and everything was on the table as long as he was entertained by it. He didn't even want to try to recall half the things he'd done to entertain that sick bastard. But more than that, his father was terrifying. The bastard had no sense of reason. It was all pleasure for him. Nothing but the pleasure mattered and he'd do anything to keep up his high.

So Jean-Paul left and became Alec. The problem with leaving was that he'd triggered young and spent so much time with that bastard that he had lost interest in so many things. He didn't care about who he hurt during his time spent as Hijack. He didn't care about hurting people now. There was still that tiny little bud of his father in the back of his psyche that viewed people as toys. His power allowing him to make people his toys certainly didn't help either. He could slit someone's throat and not feel a thing. He could be the center of an orgy and the high would only last for a few minutes after. Nothing really did it for him anymore.

On the plus side, all the fuckery Heartbreaker pulled made Alec somewhat immune to his powers. At least, he speculated it did. He hadn't been and had no desire to ever be close enough to Heartbreaker to check..

Now, living in Brockton Bay, things were a bit more interesting. He got paid to sit around more often than not, only having to hit one of the gang safe houses around the city once a week or so. It was dangerous, sure, but that's where the fun was. That and video games. You could do so much in video games and it was fake so you'd never get in trouble for it. Shooting games allowed an amazing outlet for some of his more violent tendencies. His team was only ever subjected to his detached snarking.

His mind switched to his team as he thought about them. He didn't care about his team. Not _really_. He wasn't really capable of making those types of connections anymore, but he _felt_ he should care. They'd been through a lot together and so he forced a connection. Met their attachment to him with one to them because he felt it was the right thing to do. He wouldn't feel anything if one of them died or disappeared, but he was loyal to his team and so he would force himself to feel bad if that happened. He cared because he wanted to. That was something that took him a long time to do. Heartbreaker had tried his best to beat sentiment out of him, but he kept it in spite. Because he didn't want to be like him.

But that didn't stop him from wanting to feel things.

It was a shame that the only real enjoyment he got was out on the job. Sneaking around through Empire or ABB safe houses, tripping people up and making them misfire or fall down stairs was entertaining. The money certainly helped, too.

He tossed his controller on the couch after another death.

"This sucks. I wish there was something else to do." He said to himself. He looked over the back of the couch to the kitchen. He rolled the idea in his head before sighing. "Nope. Stars. Can't do it. Not today." He flopped back onto the couch.

If only there was something or someone to do. Rachel was out by default. He wouldn't try for fear of her trying to snap him in half. She was strong enough she could probably do it, too. Brian wasn't into guys and didn't stay at the Loft, so that was a no. Lisa was… Well, she said her powers supplied her info that made her dryer than the Sahara Desert, and he in particular set off her warning bells like crazy, but he suspected it was something else. It probably wasn't hard to ignore her powers telling her a guy just wanted to smash and dash or stick it where the sun don't shine, but she didn't even seem to enjoy the time they tried to make out. He had just asked and she, for some reason, had agreed to try. It actually made him feel a little self conscious. He took pride in his ability in bed.

So teammates were out, he didn't want to go chasing tail around town, he'd had enough of his games for the night, so what was there to do?

Before he could even start to answer the question his whole body twitched violently before seizing up for a second. When it passed he felt different. Like maybe he could enjoy playing games for a little longer. But something was poking at him. In the back of his head he felt an impulse and drew his finger across the air. A portal snapped open like teeth and led to pitch darkness.

"Well, this should be fun." He stepped into the portal with newfound enthusiasm.


	5. Interlude 1.d

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little bit of insight into Theo. We don't see a lot of him through Worm, but we see enough to know the type of person he is. I think toppling the Empire would be a viable long term goal for him if it hadn't done so own it own. He's more focused on his hatred of Max and the Empire here than normal, but this would generally be how he feels about them.

"You have everything?" Kayden asked, going through her purse as she walked towards the door of the apartment.

"This isn't the first time I've babysat, Kayden. I'll be fine."

"I know, I just want to make sure." She stops and looks at him. He can tell she sees a lot of his father in him. She nods before turning back to the door. "I should be back around eleven thirty, so you don't have to wait up after putting Aster to bed."

"Okay. Bye, Kayden."

"Bye, Theo."

She leaves the apartment and Theo turns back to the living room to handle his little sister. She looked a lot like her mother, which he was kind of glad about. One less reminder of his father was always nice. It was bad enough he couldn't escape the man when he looked in the mirror or even in general since Kayden could see his father in him. It was still a bit early, so he decided some TV would be the best way to spend his time until Aster had to be put to bed.

Clicking through channels, Theo couldn't find anything to watch. Aster was on the couch next to him and it wasn't like he could turn on a horror movie with her there. He ended up settling on a kids show to keep her entertained while he slid into his thoughts. Largely about his father and the Empire. Max Anders was… Well, "Not a good person" would be an understatement. The man ran a gang of Neo Nazi's and all he cared about was power. He was a manipulative bastard who got his way by any means necessary. He more than tried to force Theo into his lifestyle, chastising him for not being as driven, as in to sports, as ambitious as he was. It was funny that the one thing he did inherit from Kaiser, his intelligence, didn't seem to rank very high on the board.

But that was fine. Kaiser underestimating him would eventually lead to his downfall. It would take years, possibly a decade or longer, but he'd be the cause of Kaiser falling from his high horse. Theo would be the one to topple that tower that Kaiser liked to lord over everyone else. He'd bring him down to level.

Aster's crying shook Theo from his thoughts. He glanced at the clock to see it was a bit past her bedtime. Hopefully Kayden wouldn't find out. He picked his sister up and started the process of getting her to sleep. It took half an hour, but Aster finally got to sleep. Theo decided on eating then, and maybe going to bed after some TV.

Theo appreciated Kayden. He probably didn't tell her that enough, but eating the chicken she'd made before heading out, he figured he should tell her. There were other reasons beside the cooking, namely that she pulled him from his father. Living with Kaiser was… It wasn't a place for people who thought for themselves. His older cousins, Jessica and Nessa, were over often to "Spend Time" with his father and he either left or was forced into training with the rest of the Empire. Crusader and Krieg were alright enough, though he didn't know if the latter was simply because he was his bosses son. Hookwolf was a supreme asshole. Treated Theo like dirt because he wasn't a fighter at his core.

Kayden, despite having been under Kaiser's thumb for so long, got out and was looking to be her own person. He could over look her racism for the moment. He didn't like it, but he had to be around white supremacists more often than not. He often wondered whether Kaiser really believed in the things the Empire stood for or not and whether it made him a worse person if he preached the hate just to manipulate simple minded people into following him.

Not like it mattered. The Empire would fall eventually. He'd do his best to make sure of that.

As it neared Kayden's return time, Theo opted to watch the news. The late night and early morning news casts were usually most informative in the Bay since they had the highest chance of telling you about Cape fights that could could have lasting effects. Theo gripped the remote tightly as the anchor went over a deadly cape fight that had happened barely a half hour before. First there was the fight with Oni Lee and Storm Tiger and Cricket the night before, and now The Empire had brought a fight to the border of ABB territory in retaliation, sending Hookwolf and Krieg to cause damage. Apparently Oni Lee had some new bombs to play with on top of the damage Hookwolf and Krieg were causing. The damage was ridiculous, even by Cape fight standards. Over fifty casualties and twelve people confirmed dead as a result.

It was news like this that really fueled Theo's desire to get rid of the Empire. He wanted the Bay rid of all the gangs, but knew that wasn't quite realistic without a stronger force to keep the peace and keep other gangs from trying to occupy territory. It would be easier if he had the power and knowledge to do so, but he didn't. The knowledge would be easy enough to get, but the power was a different story. Even if he triggered, there was no guarantee he'd be powerful enough to make a real difference. He would be a third generation Cape if he got powers, so the chances of him being particularly powerful were low.

And that was a problem. Not necessarily because he wanted the power to crush his enemies under heel, he wasn't maniacal like Kaiser, but because the power to destroy was the only one that was truly respected. Political power, social power, monetary power, they were all good, but the power to destroy, the power to bring enemies to their knees with no visual effort, was the power that would allow him to accomplish his goal. It was why Eidolon was well respected. It was why Lung was able to run a gang that rivaled the Empire 88 despite only having one other cape and being out numbered six to one. If he could wield such power without falling into the same pit his father had, that so many other parahumans had, he could be a great force for peace.

Suddenly, Theo felt himself shudder. A chill ran up his spine and left him feeling cold for a few seconds before the heat returned. He felt a compulsion he couldn't quite explain as the door opened.

"Theo? You still up?"

"Yeah, in the living room." He called back, holding off his desire to do whatever it was he felt like doing.

"I told you not to wait up for me. You still have school tomorrow." She said.

"I was watching the news and lost track of time."

"Alright. You put Aster to sleep right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. You get to bed."

Theo stood and started for his room before stopping.

"Kayden?"

"Yes?" She asked, turning to him as he pulled her into a hug. She was mousy and short, so he was easily half a head taller than her even at 14. She was stunned for a second before returning the hug. "What brought this on?" She asked.

"I know you care a lot more about Aster, but I really appreciate everything you do for me. It means a lot." He said. "Anyway," He let go, "I'm kinda tired, so I'm just gonna pass out. Good night."

"Goodnight." Kayden said, watching him walk down the hallway, trying to figure out what had just happened.

Theo entered his room and locked the door for good measure. He let the compulsion he'd been feeling overtake him and drew a finger across the air. His eyes widened in excitement as the air split open like jagged teeth. He rushed through the portal, more than ready for what was on the other side.


	6. Scabbard 1.2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: And so our (tentative) Heroes finally meet one another. This chapter had to undergo some overhauls since the other two members wont be joining this arc, but I think I made it work alright. It's probably for the best since the other two contributed basically nothing in the original version of this chapter. I think I'm pretty much done with Arc 1 once I finish writing the next three chapters, so that's something to look forward to.

I watched in excitement as the portal opened up. I was happy to see another person like me finally show up. My mouth dropped open and I nearly dropped my cigarette at the sight of brown hair and cutesy features that stepped though into the room. I could tell she didn't see me immediately, too caught up in the wonder at the sky. I closed my mouth, biting down on my cigarette, another reason to be mad since I'd have to light a new one. Her eyes finally came to the thrones and she stopped on me, stepping back slightly. I didn't know if it was out of surprise or the glare I was aiming at her.

We stared at each other in a long silence. She looked… apprehensive and small.

"T-Taylor." She said.

"Madison." I said, pulling my ruined cigarette from my mouth and destroying it. I stood and started down the steps, pulling out a new one. "Seeing you here is quite the unwelcome surprise." I said, snapping my fingers on fire and lighting my cigarette as a stopped in front of her.

"Y-yeah… Look, Taylor… I…"

I scoffed. I couldn't believe this. I didn't trust her enough to not think it was an act.

"Save it. I don't know what you're going to say, but I doubt it'll be anything I want to hear." I turned to go back to my throne.

"Taylor, I—." She stopped as another portal opened.

A blonde girl stepped out. She had green eyes, freckles, and was dressed in silk red pajama pants and shirt.

"What the hell is this?" She asked.

"This is where people with our power end up." I explained. "Apparently the universe finally saw fit to bring the rest of you, so I'll explain what I know when we're all here."

"What do you mean our power?" Madison asked.

"I mean we're not quite parahumans. Whatever this power is came from somewhere else. It's different. I realized I had mine after you and your friends shoved me in that locker." I said, causing Madison to flinch back.

"Taylor, please—."

"You two have a history?" The blonde asked. "You go to school together." She turned to Madison with furrowed brows, "You helped bully her to the point where she should have triggered. What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"I…" Madison didn't seem be able to explain herself. Not that I really wanted one.

Another portal opened and a pale skinned boy with curly haired stepped through.

"Huh. This is pretty cool."

"Alec?" The blonde asked.

"Lisa? The fuck are you doing here?"

"Me?! What about you?!"

"I don't know. I was playing video games then my body froze up and I opened a portal that brought me here."

"That's how it happens." I said.

"The fuck is she?!"

"I'm the one who knows how your new powers work. It took me a long time to figure this shit out so when the next three people show up I'll explain it all."

"Hey," Madison started, "Can I… Can I have one?" She gestured to my cigarette.

"Since when do you smoke?"

"Uh… For a while."

I hummed before tossing her my pack. "You should be able to light up like I do. Just think about a small fire on your thumb and it should work."

She nodded as she caught the box and pulled one out. She snapped her fingers, but nothing happened. She tried a few more times, snapping over and over. When she finally got it a pillar of green shot up past her face and into the sky. Her cigarette was completely gone and everyone was staring at her with wide eyes. Except for Alec. He was laughing.

I sighed and shook my head.

"I guess I won't blame you for that one. Though that never happened to me." I said. I stepped from the throne and was right in front of her, making her jump. I snapped and lit my thumb as she held her smoke over it before waving it away and taking my pack from her.

Another portal opened and a blond boy stepped through. He was only slightly shorter than me and had blue eyes. He was wearing a shirt and jeans.

"What is this?" He asked to no one in particular.

"This," I pulled my arms out to gesture to the area, "My new blond friend, is the hub area for people like us." I showed him the back of my left hand. "People with numbers and power that could probably rival the Triumvirate."

"You're serious?!" Lisa asked.

"I am. Why don't we get everyone a seat while we wait to see if the last two show up?" I asked. "You should find a number somewhere on your body. If you can't see it then it's probably on your back."

"I got three." Madison said, pressing a hand to the inside of her breasts. I waived her over and she took the seat on my left.

"I got a four on my chest." Alec said as he walked toward the thrones. "I always wanted to get a tattoo. At least this one doesn't hurt."

"I got seven." The blonde boy said, showing the number on his right hip. He walked over to the throne furthest left of me.

"I can't find mine." Lisa said.

I tilted my head to one side before popping up in front of her.

"Stick your tongue out." I said.

"Why?"

"Lisa doesn't swing that way! She swings no way at all!" Alec called.

"Shut up, Alec!" She called, giving me a glimpse of black ink on her tongue.

"Yours is on your tongue." I said.

"What? Why my tongue?"

"I don't know." I shrugged. I had an idea, but nothing to go on. "But your number is five."

"Okay, so now that we all know where we go…" I trail off as I get to my throne and sit down. "Table!" The room shifted, the thrones on the stairs sinking down to floor level and sliding until they were in a circle around a table. "Let's talk for a while."

"That was cool." The blond boy said.

"So, you're Taylor, right? Can you explain what's going on here?" Lisa asked.

"I can explain as much as I've figured out." I say, lighting another smoke up. "So, I know our numbers mean something, but I'm not sure what. The basic powers, like the thing I do to light my cigarette's and the speed thing I did are basic. You all should be able to do those, as well as a few other things. Then you'll have individual powers in a theme related to… Yourself, somehow."

"Related to us?"

"Yeah. For example, I've been alone for a long time. All my powers reflect that. They basically make it so that nothing affects me unless I let it. True solitude."

"You said 'powers' as in multiple." Madison said.

"Yeah. About four very overarching powers. I can become intangible, manipulate space, negate causality, and isolate myself from the regular plane of existence."

"NEGATE CAUSALITY?!" Lisa shouted.

"Yeah. I haven't been able to find a limit either. I can negate things pretty much without limit, but I haven't tried negating the cause of anything more than a few weeks past. Negating effect is always viable, but negating cause past a certain point creates… ill effects. I won't go into too much detail, but if you know what the words 'Implicate Order' mean, it's somewhere around there."

"That's bullshit." Alec said. I saw Lisa twitch and assumed she understood the implications of what I'd said.

"Yep. Anyway, the powers should feel instinctual as you try to use them. Most of it just kind of clicked for me and I've been refining my usage for the past few months. Which is why I can light a smoke without nearly blowing my face off with a Cero."

Madison looked embarrassed while a few others looked confused.

"What's a Cero?" The blond asked.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Oh, it's Theo." He said.

"Theo. A Cero is what I call this." I pointed a finger up into the air and let a ball of blue energy form on the tip before letting the large beam fire.

"Oh… Wow…"

"Yeah."

"Why call it that?" Lisa asked.

"I don't really know. The Spanish naming felt right. That speed thing I was doing earlier I call Sonido. The portals I call Descorrer. You'll be able to open those without drawing a line after a while." I said.

"I like it." Theo said. "It's different than anything we already have in the bay."

"Right. Uh…" I trailed off to think for a second, trying to decide what else to say.

"We already know each others names. There's no point in talking about that part of the unwritten rules." Lisa said.

"Yeah, that." I nodded. "I guess since we already know each others names we don't have to do introductions or anything. At least not yet. But I think we should talk about where to go from here."

"Shouldn't we be waiting for the last two people?" Madison asked.

"We can just explain it again when they get here." I paused. "If they get here. They should have been here by now if they were coming at all. I know how hard it is to resist the urge to come here first thing."

"Then let's just figure everything out and explain it later when they show up." Lisa said.

"Yeah. So, as I was saying, where to go from here?"

"What we do with our powers." Theo said, beating Lisa to the punch.

"Right. I've been thinking about it for a while. I always wanted to be a hero as a kid, but I don't want to join the Wards, and I'm not really sure about going independent, despite how strong I am. Part of it was me waffling until the rest of the numbers showed up. Now that most of you are here I was wondering about input." I said.

"Do we have a choice?" Lisa asked.

"Doing anything would be entirely voluntary, so if you don't want to do stuff as a group, or if you already have a team, assuming some of you are already parahumans, then that's fine."

"I'll join you." Theo said.

"I will too." Madison said.

"Me and Lisa already have stuff to do." Alec said. "Though I'll join you for whatever if I'm not busy."

"I'll need to think about this." Lisa said.

"Alright." I said. "So that makes three members a partial member, and a maybe. Uh… You're still welcome here whenever. Not like I can stop you from showing up whenever you want."

"Where is here, anyway?" Alec asked.

"It's a sub dimension. I haven't come up with a name for it yet."

"Las Noches." Lisa said.

"Huh?"

"It always looks like night time here, right? Las Noches."

"Spanish for 'The Night'." I said.

"I like it." Theo said.

"I do too. Thanks."

"Yup." Lisa gave a vulpine smile.

"So, back to what to do with the group." I said.

"We could toe the line." Theo offered.

"What?" Madison asked.

"Toe the line between villain and hero. Control territory and all that, but try to not strictly get on the bad side of the law."

"Why? Is there any benefit to playing so close to villainy?" Madison asked.

"I'm… Sometimes to make things better you have to work outside the system." Theo said.

"Doing the wrong thing for the right reasons." I said.

"Exactly. So, say we take out all the gangs in the Bay, that just leaves Parian and the PRT and Protectorate. They can patrol all they want after the gangs are gone, but other gangs, maybe worse ones, would move in. Like what happened after Marquis got caught. Between him and Lung, I'd call Marquis the lesser evil." Theo said.

"So even if we aren't really a gang, controlling territory will help the city if we're actively helping people." Madison said.

"Right."

"It's actually one of the failures of New Wave." Lisa said.

"You're going to have to explain that one." I said.

"They're independent heroes, not Protectorate. Even though they have a partnership with the PRT and Protectorate. Because they're independents and they're a group instead of just one or two Capes, they're in the unique position of actually being able to carve out territory to keep villains away. They have day jobs and school, but so do some of the Empire. They aren't out and about all day every day. They don't even need to take a large part of the city, maybe just a few blocks and see how that works out before they decide on expanding. The point I'm trying to make, though, is that by controlling territory they effectively create a place where the gangs will actively have trouble acting without risking New Wave coming at them outside of major problems. It's making a reactive job proactive."

"So we'd essentially be trying something new for the first time. Heroes or at least Hero adjacent people controlling an area to keep gang activity within to a minimum or risk the heroes coming down on them. They don't have to worry about a gang war, but the constant threat proactive heroes present could cause problems for business. And if we're as strong as Taylor suggests, it shouldn't be hard to keep people out of our territory." Theo said.

"Exactly." Lisa nodded.

"This is actually an interesting idea." Alec said.

"I agree." I said. "I'm kind of… Apathetic to a lot of things now. Walking the line between Villain and Hero is something I'm willing to do, I think. Especially if we can get our hands on legitimate dealings to help fund us."

"So, now that we've got those details all hashed out, I have a little deal for you." Lisa said to me.

"I'm listening."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Alec asked, apparently reading into what she was thinking.

"Yep. See, Alec and I here are part of a villain group. Real small time. Petty thievery, really. Thing is, we don't have any fire power."

"You want us to help you if you need back up." I said.

"Well, I'd like for you to join, but since that's not quite an option, it'll have to do."

"What do you think?" I looked to Theo.

"Long as you aren't out hurting people like the Empire are, I guess we can help." He said.

I nodded. I could agree with that. I turned my gaze to Madison, who flinched back a bit.

"Uh… I don't really care." She shrugged. "We're supposed to be walking the line between hero and villain, and that means working with anyone we need to work with to get the job done."

"Of course this will be a reciprocal association. In situations where you don't have to be with your group, you come with us." I said.

"That's fair enough." Lisa nodded.

"Great. Then I guess we're in business."

She reached across the table to shake my hand, and I obliged.

"Now, before you leave, You have some things here that belong to all of you. If you'd go ahead and knock on the side of your thrones."

A few of them looked at me weird, but obliged. They flashed in white before the glowing stopped and they looked down at themselves.

"Oh shit!" Alec said as he looked over his new clothes. "We get uniforms?!" He was dressed in a pair of slim white paints and a tight long sleeved white shirt that showed off his chest and tattoo with a V that stopped at his solar plexus. His mask looked like a jester.

"What the hell?" Lisa asked. "This outfit is too revealing! And what the hell is this mask?" Her outfit was a long sleeve crop jacket that stopped just under her breasts and loose white pants that showed off her hips with a black sash to keep them up. Her mask looked like a mantis.

"I don't know. The masks are loosely related to our powers. For example," I pulled my cigarette from my mouth and waved my hand over my face, my mask appearing behind it, "Mine is a wolf, which helped me figure out my theme was solitude." I said, my voice distorted. "Cause the whole 'Lone Wolf' thing."

"Your eyes are gold and black." Madison said. Her outfit was easily the most conservative after mine. She had on a long white dress with long sleeves that reached the ground that was form fitting at the top and loose past her waist. It had a thick black line down the center and crossing lines to make an X across her chest. Her mask was blank save for the holes for her eyes.

"Side effect of the mask." I waved it off and put my smoke back between my lips. "You also have a sort of hammer space where you can put all that stuff. Once it's there you can put it on like a magical girl show." I snapped and my outfit appeared on me. It was simple, but I liked that it didn't show much of any skin. It was a white jacket over a double breasted vest and black pants with a white belt and matching gloves and black boots.

"Huh…"

"That's pretty sick." Alec said.

"As nice as this all is, I still feel really under dressed." Lisa said.

"It's not like anything short of Armsmaster's halberd could cut you. Depending on what that thing is made of." I said.

"Are we that strong?" Madison asked.

"Yup." I nodded.

"I think I might be a bit uh… pudgy for this." Theo said. He was dressed in a pair of loose fitting pants and an open short sleeve crop jacket that showed off his chest and and the tattoo on his hip. His mask was catlike. A Panther from what I could tell.

"Then work out." Alec said.

Theo sighed, but nodded.

"Then I guess we're done here?" Alec asked. "Meeting over?"

"Almost." I said. "We need a name."

"How about something like 'Aliens'."

"We could be… The Masters." Madison suggested.

"We might get sued for Alec's suggestion, and 'Masters' would probably get us the quickest kill order ever handed down in PRT history." Lisa said.

"We're sticking with Spanish theming, right?" Theo asked.

"I have something… It's right on the tip of my tongue." I said, struggling for the word.

"The Swords?" Lisa asked.

"The Espada! Yes, thank you!" I said, tapping my head.

"Guess that makes our symbol easy." Theo said.

"I can design a good sword pretty easy." Madison said.

I had the urge to tell her to shut up, but I just couldn't bring myself to really care at the moment. I was more interested in thinking about what to do with our new group.

"You know how to use design software?" Theo asked.

Madison nodded. "I'm pretty decent at computers."

"That could be useful at some point." Lisa nodded.

"Yeah. Though I wouldn't be able to pull off anything that required like, anything more than a basic college level of coding."

"Still impressive." Theo said.

"Alright. I think that's everything. So you can go home if you want. I'm tired, so I'm gone." I said. I ignored Madison trying to talk to me and walked through a Descorrer.


	7. Non-canon: Amy Interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's the thing, I was looking over the story and realized I wouldn't be able to fold this into the characters actual introductory interlude like I want to do with the other one. But I really, really like this one and I didn't want to let it rot in the vault like most of the other stuff I write so I'm posting it as a non canon chapter. Enjoy.

Amelia Dallon, Amy for short, was tired. Which she considered an understatement. She felt as if exhaustion and despondency had combined in some unholy union to create whatever emotional hell she found herself in. She remembered when she first got her power. She was so happy to be able to heal her sister. She was even happy to work simply for the appreciation of those she helped. Then Carol started her ribbing. Carol had never liked her, and for the longest time she had no idea why. When Amy had gotten her powers and started working at the hospital it was always Carol with that sickly sweet voice whispering doubt into her ear. "Are you sure you didn't miss something?" she'd ask after it was too late to check. It was always something with that woman. It wasn't until she overheard a conversation between her and Aunt Sarah that she finally realized why Carol seemed to hate her so much.

She was the daughter of a villain. Apparently a vicious one if Carol was to be believed, though she probably wasn't. The realization had sent her into a downward spiral she had never recovered from. On top of the stress of constantly being called on to help people, Carol's undermining, her own insecurities about her sexuality and attraction to her sister, her long term lack of sleep and personal time degrading her mind, and the constant worry that she would be sent to the Birdcage if the true nature of her powers got out, she now had to deal with the anxiety that came with knowing her father was a villain and doing everything she could to avoid making even the slightest mistake that might make Carol send her packing. A smaller voice in the back of her head said the only reason it hadn't happened yet, and why Carol wouldn't attempt to kill her if she did display any slightly villainous thoughts, was that she was more useful to the world alive than dead. Even with the easy parallels between her and Bonesaw and Nilbog she was far more useful an asset than they could afford to lose.

She knew that, rationally. But anxiety was rarely rational. So the worry of what could happen if people realized the true length of her powers was constant. She had nightmares about it. About her family turning on her. About Carol trying to kill her. About what she'd do if she screwed up and had to go on the run.

"You feeling okay, Panacea?" She was snapped from her thoughts by a nurse.

"Yeah, just tired. What time is it?" She asked.

"Almost eleven. Are you gonna head home soon?"

"I'll do a few more before I leave."

"Alright. Some people in Emergency and ICU got caught in the middle of a cape fight. You should focus on them. We can handle the smaller stuff."

"Thanks." She gave a weak smile.

Navigating the white hallways and color coded lines of the hospital was second nature at this point. She spent so much time in these halls that she'd even managed to get from area to area half asleep before, waking up at her destination with no memory of having walked there. She stepped into the Emergency room and found chaos. Doctors and nurses moving around like bees, the sounds of pain and machinery, medical codes being shouted out as carts where moved to keep people alive. She could only imagine the injuries that had been moved up to the ICU.

"What happened?" Amy asked a passing nurse.

"Oh, thank God. Panacea, it's bad. Oni Lee got into a fight with Hookwolf and Storm Tiger on the edge of ABB territory. There was a lot of collateral. We've got some of the more stable cases moved up, but we're swamped right now. Just about everyone can use your help."

"Got it."

She moved to the first room and stepped into the curtain to find a nurse helping a patient impaled with some of Hookwolf's blades. One of his arms was dangling off by a tendon and his torso was covered in smeared blood as the Nurse tried to get him on some pain killers and start working. This was the part of the job she hated the most. All the blood and viscera, all the gore. She'd been exposed to some of the worst injuries people could possibly ever get on a frequent basis since she got her power at 13. She'd regrown limbs lost in explosions or shredded by Hookwolf. She'd healed people with holes through their torso large enough she could see clear through them. She'd even managed to fix a guy was bisected at the waist during a motorcycle accident. There was even the time she'd fixed a guys face after it was split in half. The sound of his breathing still haunted her. Children just weren't meant to see that kind of shit. She had enough on her plate without getting PTSD from all the horrific injuries she'd seen and healed.

She made eye contact with the nurse as she walked forward towards the patient. The mans relief was visible in his face.

"Do I have permission to heal you?" Amy asked the man.

"Yeah, please." He said through pained gasps.

She placed her hand on him winced. The guy was lucky he was even awake with all that damage. She started reconnecting muscles and fixing organs. It took no effort on her part and took maybe a minute in total to heal him.

"Thank you so much. I really appreciate it." The man said.

She nodded.

She was so tired. She was so far beyond caring. The more she healed the less she'd seen her patients as people. They were just voices lost in the fog. She didn't even know how many times she'd been thanked for her work. How many times she'd been told she was appreciated. How many families cried when she fixed their mothers Stage 4 Lung Cancer. She didn't feel the satisfaction of it any more. If anything she hated her work. She just wanted some time to herself for a little while.

She moved the next room, a patient had her legs blown off. She asked a nurse to bring some biomass, anything, so she could get to work.

"Do I have permission to heal you?"

It was something she added to her routine after Carol pointed out using her power without verbal consent could be considered "Assault with a Parahuman Ability" under just about any other circumstance. If she had verbal consent, or the consent of next of kin, then everything was good as far as she knew. She'd probably spoken that one sentence more than anything else she'd ever said. It was just word-vomit to her at this point. A meaningless line of words that bled together until she stopped hearing herself say them.

"Do I have permission to heal you?"

"Do I have permission to heal you?"

"Do I have permission to heal you?"

"Do I have permission to heal you?"

"Do I have permission to heal you?"

"Do I have permission to heal you?"

"Do I have permission to heal you?"

"Do I have permission to heal you?"

"Do I have permission to heal you?"

"Do I have permission to heal you?"

"Do I have permission to heal you?"

"Do I have permission to heal you?"

"Do I have permission to heal you?"

"Do I have permission to heal you?"

"Do I have permission to heal you?"

"Do I have permission to heal you?"

"Amy?"

"Huh?"

"You okay, Ames?" Vicky asked, floating just in front of her.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure? You look really out of it."

"I'm fine. Just tired. Do you know what time it is?"

"Eleven thirty."

How had that happened? She knew things started to blend together when she got caught up in her work, but she'd never just lost a whole half hour before. If she wasn't on the verge of blacking out she'd be worried she may have made a mistake. Though at this point she knew she didn't. She never did. She knew the human body to well to make a mistake. So well that even on autopilot she'd never once made a mistake. But that didn't stop the worry.

"You ready to go?"

"Home?"

"Where else? It's a bit late to go do anything else. We do have school tomorrow."

"Right." She said.

Amy usually tried to enjoy her flights with her sister. It was the only time she could be close to her the way she wanted. She knew it would never happen, Vicky didn't like girls and there was the caveat they were sisters, adopted sisters but sisters none the less. Vicky was hot, she definitely wasn't going to deny that, but what really elevated the girl was her aura. The ability to make people fear or love her as a Master/Shaker effect was ever present and bashed into Amy's brain like a hammer on an anvil.

"We're home. Time to get some sleep." Vicky said as she gently placed Amy on the ground.

"Yeah," Amy yawned, "Time to sleep."

The girls walked up to their rooms in general silence, giving each other the cursory "Goodnight" before going into their rooms.

It was as Amy took off her costume that she realized something was wrong.

"What the fuck?" She asked herself quietly. On her right forearm was the number "2" in black. It looked like a tattoo and she probably would have remembered getting a tattoo, especially of a number, on her arm. She wasn't that out of it.

While she examined the number she felt something deep within. Like a shiver, but it was her soul instead of her body.

Drawing a finger across the air, she watched in detached curiosity as the air split apart like teeth to reveal a dark hole. She stared at it for a long few seconds before making her decision.

"I had better get some answers out of this." She said as she stepped into the hole.


	8. Scabbard 1.3

My morning runs had gotten longer despite my smoking. Because of my powers I could run far longer in a far shorter period of time. So it was more like I could go farther in the same amount of time. I started out only going a block or two before tiring out and couldn't actually run for longer than a few minutes out a time. It took me an hour to run a three block route around my house. Now, I could easily run to the beach and back in the hour and barely work up a sweat. That was around six miles in half an hour, meaning my morning runs were usually twelve miles both ways. Winslow was a bit over eight miles from my house, but I saw no point in running to school and back only to Sonido back a few hours later.

Because of my time, I usually had time to finish a smoke before starting my run home. Take a look around the Boardwalk and all that. I usually used my bus money to buy a snack if I find something open. There was a nice donut shop near the Lord Street Market, so I ended up buying a donut maybe three days out of the week. Just as a treat for putting up with the shit at school.

"Morning, Taylor." Abby, the middle aged red head who ran the shop greeted me. She looked like she was only in her late twenties, despite having children in college. I liked that she didn't really bother with the played up smile and greeting so early in the morning.

"Morning, Abby. Let me get a cinnamon twist and a chocolate milk."

"Yup. Something up?" She asked as she grabbed my order.

"Really not looking forward to school today." I sighed.

"You never look forward to school."

"Even less so today. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to have a conversation I don't want to have with someone I don't like." I said, paying and taking my food.

"Ah, sounds like a pain."

"Yeah. You ever have to deal with people you hate?" I asked, taking a bite of my twist.

"All the time."

"You know what I mean."

"I do. I think you should figure it out."

"You know I'm bad at interacting with people."

"That's why I think you should figure it out."

"You're useless."

"I can take the sweets back."

"It's half eaten." I said, sipping my milk.

"And?"

"Christ. So I should have this conversation with this chick I hate?"

"Yes."

"Despite all the terrible shit her and her friends have done to me?"

"Oh, those chicks." She tilted her head back in understanding. "Well, I'll give you some advice my mom gave me when I was dealing with something like that: "if you can't say it with your words, say it with your fists". In other words, if you can't talk it out, fight it out."

"Funny. My mom used to tell me that if they were getting back up I wasn't hitting hard enough."

"Good advice, but inefficient for someone of your size. You should be going for eyes and soft spots."

"I'll keep that in mind." I said, as I finished my food.

"See that you do. See you next time."

"Thank you for the sage advice, Wise Lady Abigail." I bowed slightly before leaving as she told me to fuck off.

—

Dad was usually gone by the time I got home, but he did leave breakfast out for me, which was nice. I was a little surprised I'd never seen him when I ran down towards the Boardwalk, but it was a good thing I hadn't. I doubted he'd really say anything about it, but I'd prefer to avoid the confrontation if I could.

I showered, microwaved my eggs, bacon, and toast, and plopped down in front of the TV to watch the morning news. I wasn't entirely surprised to see the cape fight from the previous night, but the damage they'd managed to rack up was insane. The bombs Oni Lee dropped around were ridiculous. They didn't seem to do anything different than regular grenades, but they packed a serious punch. I was certain regular hand grenades shouldn't be powerful enough to blow holes in concrete or brick walls.

That started my thinking on plans for The Espada. I'd have to go over a map of the city and draw out territory. Once I better understood how te areas of the city were split between the gangs it would be easier to figure out where we could take once the others knew how to use their powers.

I shook my head. It was too early to be going over plans for what to do. Both too early in the morning and too early into the new situation. First priority was getting the others up to speed, everything else would have to be secondary. It took me two weeks to figure out my powers and I was still working to make them stronger and figure everything I could do with them. I could probably speed up the process for the others and get us ready for actual fights as soon as possible.

I checked the clock and got up. It was almost time for class, so I stretched and grabbed my bag before Isolating myself. I walked through the wall and used Sonido to get to school. I had time to smoke and boy did I take it. This was going to be a long day.

—

I was looking forward to Gladly's class less than usual because of Madison, but that was made worse when she decided to sit next to me. She started passing me notes not even five minutes in to class. I was able to ignore it for a few minutes before she started tapping me.

— _Can we talk?_ —

— _What's there to talk about?_ —

— _You know what. It's not a trap or anything, I promise._ —

— _Your word means nothing to me._ —

— _Fair enough… I still want to talk. Let's eat lunch together._ —

— _Seriously?_ —

— _Yes. I won't rat out your hiding spot or anything._ —

— _Not like you could. Fine. Do you bring lunch?_ —

— _No, I buy it._ —

— _Then you can buy mine too. I know a good place that's not too far._ —

— _Alright._ —

— _Just go to Las Noches and I'll meet you there._ —

— _I'm not sure I can get there by myself._ —

— _It's not hard. You'll figure it out._ —

Gladly split us into groups and I was lucky to not have Julia in my group. Greg, on the other hand, was talking more than usual. I was looking out the window while he talked about some show or game and Sparky was more zoned out than I was.

"Greg." I said, stopping his ranting.

"Yeah?"

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Uh…" He seemed put off by that.

"Seriously. I mean it sincerely. What are you talking about? Every time we get put in groups you start ranting about whatever and I have no idea because I'm not interested in those things. So tell me from the beginning. Don't talk like I know what you're saying."

"Uh…" He seemed genuinely shocked that I was interested in what he was talking about. I couldn't say I was, but I'd rather have to listen to what he was saying and learn something new than let my thoughts keep going back to what I'd do about my talk with Madison that was approaching all too quickly. "Well… I was talking about this game I've been playing."

"Okay." I said, motioning for him to keep talking.

"It's uh… It's a JRPG."

"Meaning?"

"Uh… JRPG means it's an RPG made in Japan, but it's also used to describe a particular style of game. So you have a party, usually of 4 people, who each have their own class. Typical classes include Monks who do high physical damage, The White Mage who heals, Black Mage who does magic damage, Paladins that tanks hits, Ninjas that have high speed and usually dodge things, things like that. The one I'm playing has demons that listen to the characters commands instead of classes. I was talking about how my party is a little under leveled."

"Okay. So you need to get your party to the same level as like, a boss, I'm assuming."

"Yeah!" He perked up. "At least, I thought so. But everyone online is telling me levels don't matter as much as what skills I have and my tactics."

"Have you considered changing tactics?"

"Yeah, but all the demons I want are too high level for me to get."

"Does the boss have weaknesses?"

"Uh… Yeah. It does. But I don't have any demons that hit that weakness."

"So find some lower level ones that hit the weakness." I said.

He blinked at that. Like he hadn't considered doing it at all.

"Huh… I guess I can try that. I have the game with me if you want to watch."

"Sure." I said.

I picked up what was going on pretty quickly, despite Greg already having 20+ hours in the game. I wasn't particularly interested in what little of the story I could figure out, but it gave me something else to think about until class ended.

—

I sighed as I walked out of class, heading down towards the gym. People rarely went that way for lunch and it gave me a good opportunity to disappear. I turned a corner and shifted dimensions before opening a Descorrer and walking through to Las Noches. I was surprised to see Lisa there, sitting in her throne.

"Hey." She waved at me.

"Hello." I said, a bit confused.

"So, what brings you here this time of day? You have school, don't you?"

I walked up the steps and flopped down in my throne, sliding a cigarette between my lips and lighting it. I took a deep drag before I answered her.

"Yeah." I said, blowing smoke. "But I have to have a conversation with Madison." I explained.

"About all the shit she helped do to you." Lisa said.

"Yup. Really don't want to."

"For what it's worth, she really is remorseful. Which is a bit surprising, considering how emotionally dead she is."

I raised an eyebrow at that. "Yeah?"

"Uh-huh." Lisa nodded. "She's been struggling with this for at least a few months from what I can tell."

"You know, I don't know what your power is, but it's kinda bullshit."

"I'm a mind reader." I could hear the smug in her voice without looking at her face.

"Doubt it."

"You can doubt me all you want, but that doesn't make me a liar."

"What number am I thinking of?" I asked.

She was silent for a few moments as I blew another cloud of smoke from my nose.

"Okay, fine, I'm not a mind reader." She huffed. I let a small smile cross my face at that.

"You don't have to tell me what it is or anything." I said. "The number was seven, by the way."

"Maybe. Eventually. I wasn't waiting for you, but I do want to talk in private."

"Sure."

"I'm looking to get rid of someone."

"Who?"

"A super villain that goes by Coil. My boss. I don't like him. Real slimy asshole. Says he can control Destiny, but I don't believe that for a second. Problem is I'm not sure I've ever met him in person before. He does everything through phone calls, emails, text, video chat, or proxies. If I have, It was difficult to tell if it was actually him."

"Why do you want him dead?"

"The asshole basically kidnapped me. Told me my options were to work for him or have my brain turned into a Jackson Pollock on the alley wall."

"Jesus Christ." I said flatly.

"Yeah. He's super careful about everything he does. Probably the most paranoid person I've ever seen. I just want out from under his thumb. I think you can help with that. Even better, once he's gone, I'll have all his assets and I'll be able to fund the Espada. It would be easier for us to take over and maintain control of the city."

I rolled over the proposal in my head. I shrugged. "If he's operating out of the Bay we were going to get rid of him anyway." I said.

She chuckled wryly at that. "Yeah, I guess so. Now then, Boss Lady, what are your plans for the Bay?"

"Boss Lady?" I asked.

"I'm choosing to work with you and you're probably the strongest of us. Definitely the only one that knows how to use all this power we have. And… I think… You could use a friend right?"

I perked up and I knew she could tell.

"If you're only offering because I can be useful to you—."

"No! No, no, no. Never. I… I know how that feels. I'd never do that to someone else. I… I see a lot of someone I knew in you and I genuinely want to be your friend, Taylor."

I sat up and looked at her. I could see she was being serious. She looked more solemn than she did before.

"Alright. Let's get to know each other." I said.

"Great!" She smiled.

A Descorrer opened and Madison stepped through. "Sorry I'm late. It was a pain getting away from the others." She looked up and saw me and Lisa. "Am I… Am I interrupting something?"

"No. We just finished." Lisa said.

"Alright. So, where are we eating, Taylor?"

"I found a good pizza spot a few blocks from the school."

"Alright." She nodded.

I stood up. "Later Lisa. We can talk planning another time." I said, tossing my finished cigarette into the void outside the room and opened a Descorrer.

"Bye, Taylor. Have fun you two."

Madison seemed put off by Lisa's I-know-something-you-don't tone, but she didn't comment as we left.

—

We'd been eating for ten minutes and she hadn't said a thing.

We came in, I ordered (two large pizzas), we sat, waited, got our food, and started eating, and she hadn't said a word. I could tell she was mulling it over, but she was taking too long.

"You wanted to talk, right? Talk." I said, taking a bite of my pizza.

She placed her slice down and wiped her hands. Her eyes never left the table as she seemed to finally be coming up with something to say.

"Okay, listen, Taylor… I can sit here and tell you I'm sorry and how much I regret the way I've treated you until my throat bleeds and I can't talk anymore, but I know it wouldn't mean anything to you." I nodded as I took another bite of pizza. "I'm not sure if I can ever make it up to you, but I want to. I'm already at your command, but that can only go so far. I really want to start making this up to you however I can. Whatever you want me to do, I'll do it if I can."

"Why?" I asked. She seemed confused for a second before understanding crossed her face.

"It's… It's so stupid and petty." She waved her arm dismissively. "You know better than anyone how vicious high schoolers can be. I did it because… Well, I was afraid. You aren't the only one Emma bullies, you're just the one she's the most vicious to. If any of us fell out of line she and Sophia wouldn't hesitate to turn on us. Popularity is a powerful drug and the fear of losing that, of what the others will do when you aren't falling in line with them, is more than enough motivation to keep doing shitty things if it means you won't be the one being shat on."

I wanted to go off on her. To Yell, to scream, tell her how much I hated her. I wanted to reach through her chest and splatter her heart against the wall.

Instead I took a long sip of my soda to processed her words. I'd never been in her position, but I could see how fear of being treated like I was would be a good motivator to keep up the act. But I wasn't going to be so quick to forgive just because I understood. Juice in my hair, glue in my chair, stealing my work, helping ruin my grades… My mothers flute. I wouldn't be so quick to forgive those things. I had severe trust issues because of Emma and her cadre of cunts, so convincing me to trust one of them would be hard earned.

"Taylor?" Madison asked.

"Did Emma tell you the reason she can get to me so well is because we grew up together?" I asked. She shook her head, eyes widening slightly. "We were best friends. Sisters, basically. She used to say she'd rather have me than be where she is now. Our parents were friends because we were friends. We used to alternate sleeping at each others houses on the weekends. Our parents used to joke that her older sister was named after my mother and I believed it for so long because we were that close. She's the one who helped me most through my mothers death." I could see the horror growing on her face as she pieced together the implications of what I was saying. "I've developed severe emotional issues as a result of what you all have done to me. This isn't something I can forgive so easily. It's going to take a lot of time for me to start trusting you." I paused, trying to think of what else to say. "Get the rest of this to go."

She got up to ask for a box and we were out of the store in less than five minutes. She followed just behind me and to my right. Like she didn't want to imply she stood on the same level. We turned into an alley and I grabbed her shoulder and shifted us before using Sonido to take us to the roof of the school. I let go and she balanced herself from the trip.

"I can't begin to tell you the depth of my emotions towards you and your friends." She looked like she wanted to object to that, but I kept going. "There's just far too much to go through and we'd hit the heat death of the universe before I could finish ranting at you. So since words won't work, we'll use our fists."

"What?" She asked, taking a step back.

"We're going to fight. Look at it this way, it'll be good training for your powers and beating your pretty little face in will be cathartic for me."

She squeaked and covered her nose with her hands.

"You won't actually beat my face in will you?"

I shrugged. "I won't be trying to do any lasting damage, but I'm not going to be pulling my punches either."

"What about people?"

"There aren't any people. This is my isolation world. The only living things here are us. Now square up and let's go. We've got twenty minutes till lunch ends. We start when I say 'go'." She took up a tentative boxers stance while I got into something more akin to a martial art stance. "Go."

I dashed forward slow enough that she could still see me and threw a punch at her face. She dodged with ease, but didn't retaliate. I threw another punch that hit her in the nose. She stumbled back and brought her hand to her face.

"No time outs. You think Hookwolf or Oni Lee will stop when they hit you?" I asked, hitting her in the stomach and kneeing her face when she doubled over. I didn't attack as she fell back and hit the ground, holding her nose.

"You're going to make me regret everything, aren't you?" She sighed, not getting up.

"Absolutely, I am." I said with a sly smile.

—

We ended up missing the rest of our classes to fight. It stopped being as enjoyable when she realized she could just tank hits, so it devolved into a pseudo slug fest where she couldn't hit me and my hits weren't causing reaction. Not to say she didn't feel the hits, her nose and mouth were bleeding after half an hour, she just didn't register any of it emotionally, like she couldn't feel it.

We'd also managed to discover a couple of her powers. She could control air, even creating bubbles of pressurized air that could explode with the force of several hand grenades, and create a "Negative Zone" where things were essentially reversed in any way she wanted. I was more than a little surprised that it didn't really affect me, but I probably shouldn't have been considering my power set.

It was a little before class was supposed to let out and we were lying on the roof looking at the sky. Neither of us had spoken in well over half an hour. I was content with the silence, but I could tell she was getting restless.

"So what now?" I asked her.

"About what?"

"Your friends?"

"They aren't my friends. They were always more social vultures than anything. I only spent time with them because, well, you know."

"Right. So what are you going to do?"

"I don't know." I could hear a bit of fear in her voice. The same kind I had when I would talk about going back to school after breaks.

"Listen, I might hate you, but I'm not so callous as to abandon anyone to the same fight I had. I recommend you stick with them but leave me alone or I will actually hurt you. If you want to practice during lunch, I sit up here. Just give me a note in Gladly's class. I'll be more than happy to beat up on you some more."

"Okay." She said more blandly than I was expecting. There was a hint of fear from my threats, but it was muted at best. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Why didn't you ever do anything?"

"It's not that I never did anything, but that I had limited options. Emma's dad is the type of parent who will do his best to keep his children from facing the consequences of their actions. So I couldn't tell him because he'd just ignore me or say it's slander. Dad wants to help, but he's been ineffective. We don't have the money for a legal battle. The teachers and administration just doesn't care. I know you know Gladly knows about what you and Julia do. Mrs. Knott is the only teacher who's ever tried to help. Sophia and Emma are in higher social standing and have people willing to back up what they say, so Blackwell thinks I'm just trying to get attention. Doesn't help that Sophia tries to spin it as me having a persecution complex. Now, here's the thing, if I tried to fight back physically, I'd be the one getting in trouble. I'd probably go to jail because being out numbered and Sophia being stronger than me, plus my diminutive size, means I have to fight as dirty as possible to win. So what happens when I have six girls saying I attacked them unprovoked and all of us are covered in bruises, scratches, and at least one person has a fucked up eye? I go to fucking jail. Sophia's a cunt of the highest order but she's not worth catching a case over."

"Missing an eye?" She asked.

"People of my size, with no physical strength, are better off going for soft spots. Eyes, hair, throat, neck, ears, kidneys, crotch, all places I'd aim to hit as hard as possible if I wanted to win a fight before getting powers."

"That's fucking terrifying. If that's how you'd fight without powers, I don't think I want to see the types of things you can do with them."

"I know I can reach through people and take stuff out of them."

"Are you trying to scare me?"

"Is it working?"

"Little bit."

We went back to silence after that. Neither of us said anything for several minutes until Madison broke the silence.

"School's out now, isn't it?"

"Probably."

"You don't have a watch?"

"It'd have gotten stolen by now if I did."

"Fair enough." She said, standing up. She offered me her hand.

"We're not at that point yet." I said, rolling back and onto my feet. "This doesn't make us friends, and I certainly don't trust you yet, but I'm willing to let you try to get there." I snapped my fingers and we were back in reality, the noises of students leaving for home and getting ready for after school activities roared back to life. "And buy your own smokes from now on. I can tell you don't like mine and I don't want you bumming them off me forever."

"Alright." She accepted my request easy enough, it seemed. "See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah." I said, taking off for home.


	9. Scabbard 1.4

Saturdays were no longer the reprieve they used to be, and the loss of that reprieve was one that I'd mourned as soon as I realized it. I had nothing to do and no money to do anything with. This usually resulted in me just working out more than I did during the week or sitting in my room reading until I got bored. Occasionally I'd go to Las Noches and just look at the stars. Dad either worked through the weekend now or spent his time drinking himself into a coma. Never enough that it was a problem worth addressing, but enough that he skirted that line. I was always trying to get him to open up or spend some time with me, but he was never up for it. He preferred to wallow in his alcohol fueled depression more often than not. The irony of our situations switching was not lost on me. The only thing different is that I was far more attentive than he was.

I decided to spend this Saturday out of the house. He was breaking into the hard stuff today and I had no desire to be around for that. I could only hope he didn't hurt himself before I got home. I pulled on a baggy black and pink hoodie and a ratty pair of black jeans before heading down the stairs.

"I'm going out, dad." I said as I passed the couch.

"Hold on." He said from the couch, not quite at the point of slurring his words yet. He sat up and looked at me, his glasses hanging off his face. "Where are you going?"

"Just to walk around. Might head through downtown and hit up the mall." I walked over and fixed his glasses as he fumbled with them.

"Thanks. How long are you going to be gone?"

"I don't know. Maybe till evening."

"You need any money?"

"I should be fine."

"Here." He fumbled with his wallet and pulled a bill out. "This is a twenty right?"

"Yeah."

"Take it. At least to buy some food with."

"Thanks, dad." I said, taking the bill.

"Yeah. Have fun."

"Thanks. There's some pizza left over from yesterday in the fridge if you get hungry."

"Kay."

I stepped outside and reached into my hoodie pocket for my pack of cigarettes. Flipping it open I realized I only had two left, which meant I had to make a cigarette run.

—

Contrary to popular belief, the safest part of town was near the beaches where all the Shanty towns were. None of the gangs bothered with it because there wasn't anything worthwhile in the area and there wasn't any money to be made without a great deal of investment, money or time wise. It probably helped that the college was down that way and most of the area was either gutted buildings near the beaches, shacks, and a suburb. I actually preferred going to the beach in that part of the city because I wasn't likely to run into any ABB or Merchants, the latter of which was a surprise since you'd think an area full of people living in makeshift houses and gutted run down buildings would be the prime demographic for a gang of druggies, but I guess you can't expect a gang of druggies to be smart. The store I went to was ridiculously far from my house, sure, but it was one of the only places I knew of that I could buy smokes without being carded. The other was in Lung's Territory and I didn't have the cash for any of the Japanese imports I liked.

I came to a stop in front of a run down gas station. The place was barely functional. Only two of the six pumps actually worked and the door to the place didn't lock. I was pretty sure at least one of the workers slept in what used to be a car repair garage that was always locked and the car wash on the other end of the lot probably hadn't been used in years. I pushed the creaky glass door open and nodded to the worker. He pulled a few packs of the brand I liked off the shelf and rung them up. I slid him the money, nodded, then left, lighting up the last of my previous pack.

I wasn't sure if it was something to do with my powers, but I wasn't really addicted to smoking. Not physically at least. It was more a personal compulsion than a need. I liked smoking, so I did, but I didn't get withdrawal symptoms or anything like that, which was why I only smoked about two packs a week, maybe five cigarettes a day, if that. Which was apparently on the low end. And that's if I smoked on the weekends. I didn't usually feel the stress that drove me to want to smoke when I could sit at home with a book, but boredom could push me to it too.

I started the walk back towards downtown and avoided looking at people for too long. For some reason they took it as an invitation to talk. Some of them had interesting stories, but some of them would just ramble on and on and on about some of the most mundane things I'd ever heard.

I hit a corner into an alley and used Sonido to get to a different alley in downtown. I'd learned the city well enough that I could just jump from place to place with little effort or chance of being seen, but with nearly seventy capes hanging around the city it was still a bit of a gamble. I started across the street to the mall and put out my cigarette as I entered through the store closest to me, some department store that had maybe fifteen locations across New England.

The Brockton Bay mall, much like the rest of the city, wasn't much to look at. It reflected the relative affluence of the Downtown area, but "affluence" in the Bay was basically middle class anywhere else. The ceiling was domed glass in the open areas and the building was four stories high. A few of the shops were local, but a lot of them were also high end chain places. I had twenty bucks on me, so it wasn't like I was buying anything more than food while I was here.

It was while was while I was looking for a nice white hoodie that I heard someone call to me.

"Taylor?"

I snapped my head around to find Theo and some girl standing next to him. She was shorter than me, but looked the athletic type. She had blonde hair down to her chest and I'd probably have considered her pretty if not for the sneer on her face.

"Hello, Theo." I said.

"You know this girl?" The blonde asked.

"Yeah, we met a few days ago."

"Literally ran into each other." I supplied.

She scoffed as if my mere presence were offending her. I didn't know if she had a problem with Theo interrupting their apparent date to speak with me or she was like this in general, but I didn't like her.

"Yeah, I ended up replacing her drink as an apology. We talked for a bit and that was it. I didn't expect to see her here, so I was a bit surprised." Theo said.

He was a surprisingly good liar. That's something we should be able to use in the future.

"Whatever. I'm going to go look for some pants. Come find me whenever you're done." She took off towards a different part of the store.

"Sorry about her. Tammi is… Kind of harsh."

"Eh, s'cool. I'm used to people like that." I shrugged. "Is she like that in general or was she particularly vicious because you interrupted your date to talk to me?"

"Probably a little of both. Though she's not my girlfriend. We haven't actually agreed to anything. My… father pushed us into trying it out."

"Unfortunate."

He hummed, but didn't deny it. "So what are you doing?"

"Looking for a hoodie. Mostly window shopping though. I've only got twenty bucks on me."

"Ah. So…" He looked around, "About that thing."

"Theo, first rule of being inconspicuous is not to look like you're doing something people will be curious of." I said, looking through another rack of hoodies.

"Uh, right. So, about that thing. Are we… Are we meeting up again, soon?"

"Yeah. Next Sunday, the 10th, I think, should be a good way for us to verify our plans. I'll see if Lisa and Alec can make that. Madison has already started training and we figured out some of her powers. We can meet sometime this week to help you with yours." I offer.

"That's… I might be able to swing it. I'll see. You have a phone?"

"Not a cell."

"Ah. I don't have anything to write with. Can you remember my number?"

"Yeah."

He told me his number and I nodded.

"Call me sometime Monday and I'll see what I can do."

"Alright. Blondie looks like she's getting more upset. You should get back to her."

He looked towards where Tammi was and winced. "She's definitely telling my dad about this. Later."

"Bye." I said, going back to the rack.

I kept an eye out for the two of them as I moved around the store. Tammi's attitude made me wary of her and I couldn't trust someone like her to not try anything. I wanted to be ready just in case. I left the store before them, but I still kept an eye out for her in other parts of the mall.

—

There was something about this city that just seemed to not like me. I knew Capes were impossible to escape in a city like this one, but of course I'd end up at the mall the day that not only Circus decides to show up, but the Wards are having some kind of PR event. I hadn't even seen Circus go into the store either. They just showed up, threatened the workers, and started a smash and grab. I didn't know if they were stupid or up to something, because the store they decided to rob was only about fifty feet away from the wards. But I wasn't going to spend time wondering about the decision making processes of someone who seemed to be going out of their way to get all of the wards on their tail.

Instead, I sat on a bench not even thirty feet from the jewelry store Circus had just smashed around in, legs crossed at the knee, tapping a box of cigarettes and my foot. I guess I could add agitation to the list of things that made me want to smoke. The other people near me had all panicked and run away from the chaos, but I just could not bring myself to care. If anything, I was more interested in seeing how this whole thing turned out than running, even as annoyed by the situation as I was.

I slipped a cigarette between my lips and pulled a lighter from my pocket. Before the flame made contact it was put out by a gust of wind from Glory Girl flying by. I took a deep breath and the exhale came out as more of a grumble as I re-lit the lighter and finally lit my smoke.

"Fucking Glory Girl." I sighed as I slipped my lighter back in my pocket. I huffed out a puff of smoke when I saw Gallant approaching me.

He started to say something but stopped as I looked at him.

"Are you old enough to smoke?" He asked.

"You old enough to risk your life fighting crime?" I shot back.

He was silent for a few seconds before shrugging. "I'll need you to get a bit farther away, miss. I'm sure you can see the situation nearby." He gestured to where Circus was in the store, looking like they were coming up with a plan to escape. I noticed the only Wards here besides Gallant were Aegis and Vista. Shadow Stalker, Clockblocker, and Kid Win must've been off duty today. Lucky them.

"Yeah, sure." I stood up and stretched a bit.

"Thanks." He said as I made my way to the escalator.

"Sure, whatever." I said.

I picked a spot on the second floor in clear view of the conflict. I was a bit surprised Circus hadn't come out by the time I got to the second floor, but apparently they were a patient one. As soon as the Wards made their move so did Circus, blasting through the window of the shop, kicking Gallant over. They pulled a pie out of mid air and threw it at Vista, who was apparently distracted by Gallant getting bowled over, and made a run for it, heading for the stairs. Aegis caught up quickly but got a face full of hammer and Glory Girl was slammed to the ground. I hummed in interest at the thing. It looked like one of those hammers they used at those games at fairs. It was colorful and cartoonish looking and even had streamers on one end.

Stopping to smash Aegis in the face and Glory Girl into the ground turned out to be a detriment because Vista had caught up in an instant, pie smeared across her face and visor, but enough gone to see what she was doing. She tried to stretch space to keep Circus from getting away only to find a fireball coming at her. Aegis stepped in to take the blow while Gallant followed up with a blast from his armor. Circus rolled out of the way, hitting Aegis in the chest with the hammer and kick Vista in the neck hard enough to drop her. Gallant and Glory Girl where on her, the latter following a blast from Gallant. Circus flipped over the blast, leaping off Glory Girls shoulders and onto the platform between flights of stairs. By the time Glory Girl figured out what happened Circus was already halfway up the stairs. Aegis had recovered and met Circus at the top by flying over the railing only to try to block a feint and take the hammer to the face again, sending him falling back to the first floor.

Glory Girl appeared in the direction Circus was trying to go and managed to dodge the hammer only to get a fireball to the face. She reeled back while Circus dodged another of Gallants attacks, making Gallant actually hit Glory Girl and making her drop to the floor in a daze. Circus tossed another fire ball toward the two young heroes, Gallant rolling out of the way.

By the time everyone was recovered and looking for Circus, they'd disappeared into a department store, It always bothered me how many department stores malls had, and they weren't likely to find them again.

"Well, at least it was interesting." I said to myself, walking off towards the Food court. I ended up buying a couple chicken sandwiches, some fries, and a Shake. That's the magic of the dollar menu and how far nine bucks can take you. No wonder fast foot places could stay in business if millions of people were spending a few dollars every few hours like this.

"Hey." I looked up from my food to find Theo.

"We meet again." I said. "Where's the missus?"

"Bathroom. I heard about something happening on the first floor earlier, did you see?"

"Yeah. Circus robbed a jewelry store and the wards got curb stomped. Aegis got hit with a sledgehammer twice, the second one knocking Aegis from the second floor while Glory Girl got a fireball to the face."

"Ouch."

"Yeah. They didn't look happy about that one."

"Well, thanks for the info. I'm going to get back to my table before Tammi gets back."

"Good luck with that time bomb."

He let out a quick bark of a laugh as he walked away. I saw Tammi walk towards his table a few moments later. She must have seen us talking because Theo blanched when she sat back down. Her hands were moving animatedly as she talked and Theo was doing a lot of shaking his head.

The interaction almost made me glad I wasn't into women. I wouldn't know how to handle a chick like that. Then again, I probably wouldn't be able to handle a guy like that either. Which said nothing of my actual ability to date at this point, which was virtually non existent even if I found a guy I liked, because I simply wasn't capable of the trust that came with a dating.

I finished my food and decided I had enough of the mall for the day.

—

I got home around five, just before the sun set. Dad was passed out on the couch with beer cans scattered across the table and floor and a half empty bottle of Whiskey in his hand, luckily with the cap on. I sighed and started collecting all the cans and putting them in the recycling bag. I'd have to remember to take it to the Recycling center tomorrow. There were enough cans stocked up to give a decent payout by now.

After I was done I took the bottle from his hand and gently picked up him. Dad wasn't a heavy man, I got my beanpole physique from him after all, so he wasn't difficult to carry even discounting the face that I could lift a car with ease now. After getting him in bed, in his clothes because wasn't willing to try to undress him, I went down to the kitchen to find some food. I was surprised to see he'd cooked. Or, at least, he'd tried to cook. There was a pan on the stove filled with lopsided chunks of meat and under cooked rice. I turned the burner on, deciding to finish cooking it. Dad might have been to out of it to notice it wasn't done but I wasn't.

I sat down to watch the news with my food. Nothing interesting had happened besides the thing with the Wards and Circus. Apparently there was a gang fight somewhere near the mall too. Empire and some unknown group got into a chase that involved some shooting. Seemed something important got stolen from the Empire and they were pissed.

I was half way through my food, which could have been better but I'm not going to be over critical of a drunk mans cooking, when the phone rang.

"Hello?" I asked, flopping back on the couch as I answered.

"Taylor? It's Lisa." She sounded a little freaked out.

"How'd you get my number?" I asked. The call wasn't unwelcome, but she shouldn't have been able to call me in the first place.

"Phone book."

"I never told you my last name."

"It's power bullshit, listen—."

"You should have just started with that."

"Are you always this obtuse?"

"I'm sitting at a right angle right now." I couldn't help but smirk at her groan.

"Listen, I need you to meet me in Las Noches right now. Yes you can bring your food, I need to test something with you."

"Alright."

"Good."

I hung up and went to grab my plate, walking through the portal I'd opened after grabbing it. The actual insides of the portals, the Garganta, was pretty creepy when I thought about it. It was basically a massive void. There was nothing in it. Just a vast empty space of darkness. I didn't want to know what happened if someone managed to fall into it, but I had an idea it wouldn't be pleasant if you didn't have a way to get out.

I stepped through to Las Noches to find Lisa and Alec sitting in their thrones, the former of which looking a little disturbed.

"You're here!" Lisa shot up.

"I'm here." I said, taking a spoonful of rice.

"How do I do that thing? With the table?"

"Table." I said dully, causing the room and thrones to shift. I sat down and put my plate on the table. "It took me well over a month to figure out I could change this room as I wanted. I'm not even sure you can do it immediately. Give it some time and you'll be able to do it after connecting more with the place, I think."

"You think." She sighed. "Worst part is I know you aren't lying. You genuinely don't know."

"Correct."

"Anyway, I think I figured out one of my powers."

"Freaked me right the fuck out with it, too." Alec said.

"Tell, tell." I said.

"I can tell what people want! Like, their desires. Unconscious or otherwise, I can look at someone and figure out what they want and use that to my advantage."

"How did that freak out Alec?"

"Okay, so I'm sitting on the couch, chilling, playing some games. Then she comes out her room, looks at me, then scrunches her face up and calls me gross. I'm sitting there confused, cause this is weird even for her."

"Screw you too." Lisa said.

"And she goes, 'are you just always horny?' And that weirds me out, cause I wasn't feeling it. I'm just playing my games and she comes and accuses me of being horny when sex was the farthest thing from my mind at the time."

"Sex is never far from your mind."

"Doesn't mean I'm always horny though." He shot back.

"So you want to try it on me?" I asked.

"Yes." She nodded quickly.

"I doubt there's much you can tell me about myself that I haven't figured out already."

"Let her try it." Alec's voice was a distorted warble. He was playing with his mask, wiping his hand in front of his face to make it appear and disappear.

"You can. Just saying you aren't likely to tell me anything new."

"Okay, here I go." Lisa said, staring straight into my eyes as I continued to eat my rice. "Okay. You want a better relationship with your father."

"Yes I do."

"You want friends."

"You knew that."

"I did, but it's still there. You want someone you can trust like you used to. Before… Your former best friend betrayed you."

"This is all feeling very surface level so far." I said, waving my spoon.

"Shut up. It's not my fault you seem to know yourself so well. Actually, how do you know yourself so well?"

"I've had nothing but time for introspection since I got my powers. You tend to come to realizations about yourself with enough time in your own head."

"Fair enough. You… Wow. You really, really want to hurt the people who wronged you."

"Oh man, don't even get me started. But that would involve… A lot of murder, sabotage, and torture and I'd honestly rather not have to go so far over a bunch of people I'd rather forget exist. It's not the type of person I want to be."

"You want to die." She said a bit more subdued.

"On some level, yeah. It's at least part of the reason I started smoking."

"Why don't you talk to anyone?"

"Who?"

"Fair enough." She sighed. "You can come talk to me from now on if you want." She offered.

"I'll keep that in mind." I said with slight smile. "So, oh knower of desires, is there anything else you can see in me?"

"I can see… You want to have a family and live a relatively quiet life. But you also want to help people despite how jaded you are… Or rather… It's not that you wan to be a hero, but you want to make a difference in the world and you would rather do so on the right side of the law."

"Oh, see, the last three things you said all came very difficultly to me. I figured them out, but it was after a lot of denial and stacking hatred to avoid confronting it. That means you can see pretty deep. So, if you can tell what people want, have you tried giving it to them?"

"Huh?" She looked confused for all of a second before something clicked and a look of realization crossed her face. "You think I can create illusions."

"Let me ask you a question. Before you came here, what were you feeling most? An emotion, your state of mind, whatever. What was that feeling?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Alec asked.

"I was thinking about it the other day after we met for the first time. My theme is Solitude. Before I came here I felt so incredibly alone, like no one saw me or understood me or cared. I came to the conclusion, recently, that our theme must have something to do with what we were feeling or what we want most but can't get."

"So if you're right then that would make my theme… Despair." She said lowly.

"And if that's true, what could bring someone to that point better than giving them exactly what they want only to rip it away from them at the last second? To put them right where they want to be only for it to all be fake?"

"That's… A good point."

"Yeah. Don't try it on me though. Friend or no, I might hurt you if you go too far."

"That's a scary threat from someone like you. I don't want my organs rearranged."

"CAN YOU DO THAT?!" Alec shouted almost excitedly.

"Probably." I shrugged.

"You can." Lisa corrected.

"She says I can, so I guess I can."

"That's so sick! You could like, replace someone's spleen with their kidney. Imagine the carnage that could cause!" Alec giggled.

"I don't want to." Lisa said.

"You're way to excited about that." I blanched.

"It's a cool power."

"Right…" We said.

"Anyway, I'm gonna head back home. I'm kinda tired so I'm going to bed."

"Night." Lisa said.

"Goodbye, oh lady of bodily harm." Alec bowed.

I smirked when Lisa slapped him upside the head as I left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of you probably noticed the Coil plot in this chapter. What do you think he was after?


	10. Interlude 1.d II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Theo lets his power get to his head a bit, and some insight into Medhall and the Empire. There's also a JoJo reference in this chapter.

Theo never looked forward to weekends. He didn't have choice but to spend them with his father. The problem with that was he rarely ever saw the man in person for more than a few minutes. Max was busy with both Medhall and the Empire, so he delegated time with Theo to his underlings to "Make him a more respectable man". Yesterday he'd been forced into a date with Rune, who was just… She was a real bitch for no real reason. He had no idea what her problem was, but unless she calmed down he didn't want to spend any more time with her than he had to. Sundays were the worst. He was always forced into training. More often than not this meant a day with Hookwolf's branch of the Empire.

He was laid out on his back after an uppercut from the walking chainsaw himself.

"I'm surprised, Theo. You're doing better than usual. You been lifting recently?" Brad asked. Even if the man was a violent sociopathic racist he'd still be the second biggest asshole Theo knew, right behind his father, of course.

"Not really." Theo said as he stood up. Honestly, none of the hits had hurt to badly. He was actually keeping pace with some of the better fighters like Cricket and Stormtiger. Brad could still kick his ass, even with the powers he now had, but that was because the man lived and breathed fighting and nothing else. Even Cricket took a break every so often.

"Well you're doing a lot better."

"Thanks."

"Yeah. You're not nearly as pitiful as before. We may just make a man out of you yet. Though you'll have to actually beat at least Cricket before I start thinking you're worthy of any respect, boss's kid or not."

"Alright." Theo said, toweling his face off.

"Do a couple more laps 'round the place then you're done for the day. Boss wants to talk to you after you shower."

"Okay." Theo said, running his laps before heading off to the showers. Cricket was just behind him.

Maybe it was his powers, but he didn't mind Cricket changing near him anymore. The idea made him red before, but now he felt at least a little interested. Melody was a pretty enough woman. She wore her scars with pride, which he realized he liked, but was generally pretty harsh like Rune. Where Jess and Nessa would tease him about even glancing at them in their costumes or changing, mercilessly and with a little disdain since they were his cousins, Melody didn't even notice. At least till now.

"See something you like?" She asked through her voice box. He hadn't realized he'd been staring at her undress while thinking. She stood with her towel draped over her shoulder instead of wrapped around her.

Where before such a question would have had him stumbling over his words, now he felt them as a challenge more than anything.

"So what if I do?" He asked.

The room was silent for a moment before Melody threw her head back, laughing in her natural broken rasp that came from having her throat slit.

"You're getting real bold, Theo. Brad is right. We may just make a man of you yet." She walked off towards the showers. Theo watched until she turned the corner. Part of the reason he didn't want to change near her, or anyone else, was his new tattoo. It was large and noticeable with his shirt off and would make people question what the mark on the side of his hip was if they for some reason caught him with his pants down but shirt on.

She changed quickly, wrapping the towel around himself higher than he would've before to hide the tattoo. As he ran through his quick shower he couldn't help but wonder where the Espada would go. Taylor seemed strong, both in will and actual power, Madison seemed willing to learn and ready to do what was needed, and he… Had nothing. Hadn't even figured out how to use any of his powers besides the Cero, Descorrer, and his new enhancements, though the latter was coming naturally. Madison was already learning what she could do Lisa and Alec probably weren't far behind. He had to catch up if he was going to matter to this team. If he wanted to help make an actual change and get things done. Maybe these sessions with Brad would actually be useful now that he had a goal to strive for.

He dried off and stepped out the shower, putting his shirt on first as he got dressed. Now was the hard part: Actually talking with his father. Max was manipulative by default and rarely did things for the sake of others. Max Anders was out for himself and the propagation of his Empire. He was the type of person that seemed to want more power simply for the sake of having more power. "The object of power is power" and all that. A lot of capes separated their Cape and Civilian personalities. Drew a line between them either to make it more difficult to discover who they were out of costume or to let their frustrations and desires run wild.

This wasn't the case for Kaiser or most of the Empire. Either as Kaiser or as Max, the man was about power and control. He had to lead the conversations. He had to be the one to "Take the first napkin" so to speak. Max led and everyone else followed. Or else. Kaiser got what he wanted. Or else. He was a megalomaniac who stood for everything Theo hated. He used people, picked them apart, molded them to his needs. There was no individuality in the Empire. You were what Kaiser wanted you to be or you were nothing. Possibly even dead. The only reason Theo hadn't been disposed of was because Max wasn't quite monstrous enough to get rid of blood except by way of boarding school and Aster was too young to try to mold into the next leader of the Empire. Hell, He could still see the threads that tied Kayden to the Empire, to Max. She didn't leave because she realized the Empire was amoral, but because she saw their methods as barbaric and didn't want Aster growing up the way he had. So Max had to make do with what he had to work with, and what he had to work with was a son who hated his guts and wanted nothing more than for the Empire to come crashing down. Hopefully while Kaiser was alive to see it. It would have needed to be done from the inside before, but not anymore. Not while he was in the Espada.

The elevator stopped at the top floor and Theo stepped out into the waiting room.

"Hello. Your father is waiting for you inside." Jessica said. She and Nessa had gotten (been given) positions where Max had access to them at all times. Though that wasn't unusual with Medhall. High ranking Empire members who were capable enough got important jobs at the top while the less qualified of them got cushy desk jobs with little to do. Medhall's motto might have well been "Where Nepotism meets Racism". Hell, there was even a race quota. No more than ten non-white people were to be employed at once. Said employees were to be treated the same as everyone else while on the clock, but no one was encouraged to be their friend. Just treat them with some basic respect. Like they weren't worthy of that just because of their skin color. They also were given the most dead end low paying jobs that could be found for them. All so Medhall didn't look like it was related to the Empire 88. That's how conniving Max was. Your intent didn't matter nearly as much as appearances and perception.

Theo walked into the spacious office and stood across from his fathers desk.

"Theo. Take a seat."

He did.

"So, tell me, how did your training session with Bradley and Melody go?"

"It went well. Brad says I'm improving."

"Good. That's good. You know if and when you trigger you'll be coming to work directly under me after school. I'll be training you personally should that happen."

"I'm aware, yes."

"Good. Now, I spoke to Tammi earlier today. She says you were making eyes at some other girl during your date. A Jew." He spat the word like it burned his tongue.

Theo scoffed. "That's not true. We ran into a girl I met a while ago. I talked to her for a bit when we met in the clothing store, then again while Tammi was in the bathroom to ask what the deal was with everyone panicking on the first floor. She was there when Circus robbed a jewelry store and took out some Wards."

"And her race?"

"Don't know. Doubt she's Jewish. She doesn't look it." This was a half truth. If he ever said he didn't care about race in front of Kaiser he had no doubts he'd be sitting in on a very long history lesson from the perspective of someone who thought skin color made someone subhuman.

"Very well then. Don't let it happen again. I'd like you to try to make it work with her. If not, then I suppose I can try to find another girl for you."

"I think I should get to pick who I end up with." Theo said.

"Until you start making proper choices or impressing me, you don't get the privilege. I will make those decisions for you, because I know what's best for you."

He had to resist the urge to roll his eyes.

"That sure didn't stop you from trying to put me with Tammi."

"You think my choice was wrong?"

"I think you have no idea what I want in a woman."

"If you think you can start making demands of me, Theo, than you'll have show me you deserve to make your own choices. Otherwise you'll do as I say, whether you like it or not, understood?"

Theo looked at his father with something between contempt and offense packed into the most neutral look he could muster.

"Am I understood?" Each word was stressed to get his point across.

"Yes, sir." Theo said blandly.

Max stared at him for a long few seconds, his expression hard but unreadable.

"Good. Nessa will be with you for lunch. She'll be picking. Get whatever you want. She'll drop you off at Kayden's apartment when you're done. You can go."

Theo nodded and stood, leaving his fathers office and closing the door behind him with a soft click.

"You ready to go?" Nessa asked as he walked back into the waiting room.

"Yeah."

"I'll grab you something, Jess." She said as they walked toward the elevator.

"Bye Nessa. Theo." Jessica said.

The ride down to the parking lot was quiet. Theo never really had much to say to his cousins. They were so much older than him and they had nothing in common. He could barely tell them apart half the time.

"I heard your date didn't go so well."

"Tammi's not my kind of girl." He said.

"Oh? Maybe you're looking for something a little… closer to home?" She asked with a mocking tone. He'd never live down the one time he spent a little too long looking at her and Jessica change.

Theo side eyed her, causing her eyes to widen a bit.

"No."

"Jeez, it was just a joke, Theo."

"Where are we eating?"

"There's this restaurant not too far from here I've been wanting to try. It's a nice place that's a little upscale but not super fancy."

"Alright."

The elevator stopped and they got into the car. The ride was short enough that they could've walked, it wasn't like they were in danger of being attacked in Empire territory, but he appreciated not having to spend that extra bit of time with her. As they were sat at a table looking over a menu, Nessa started talking.

"You know Tammi's really nice once you get to know her."

"She doesn't seem to like me very much and I can't say I'm into women that are so quick to anger."

"Then you're not into women."

Theo blinked.

"That seems a bit of a stretch."

"Listen, Theo, if you're going to be dating a girl of your fathers choosing, the chances of you getting a girl like… Like Heith are low. Max thinks you need a fire under your ass and he thinks she can be that fire."

"You know I don't remember my mother." Theo ground out. Heith Anders had been killed in a gang war with The Teeth when he was three years old. He never really had the chance to know her.

"Sorry." She said lowly. He knew Heith had taken care of them, and it was always a sore spot that they got to know his mother more than him, but it wasn't something he could let himself linger on. "My point is that Richard let Max marry Heith because Max was motivated and ambitious. You aren't. So Max is trying to find you a girl that will make you those things."

Theo scoffed.

"The man can barely find the time to have a simple conversation with me without trying to throw his weight around like I'm one of *you." The word came out with a little too much venom, but he continued quickly, hoping she wouldn't notice. "Like I'm another of his subordinates. What would he know about my motivation or aspirations or ambitions. He's too busy trying to make me into a carbon copy of himself."

Nessa sat back in her seat, surprise on her face. Theo was usually passive and quiet. He was smart, that was something she could easily see in him when he wanted to shine, but she'd never herd such vitriol from him before. It was probably the first time she'd seen him anything close to angry.

"Wow… I…"

"Listen, Nessa, I'm fine to go through whatever he wants me to for now. I'll train with Brad and Melody and James. I'll take Tammi on dates. I'll do as asked within reason. But at the end of the day my choices are my own to make and he doesn't know enough about me to be making them for me."

She nodded. There was little conversation afterwards. They ate with little chit chat and left silently. When they got to Kayden's apartment, Nessa stopped him from leaving.

"Tammi's nice enough when you get through her shell. I'm serious. She's just got a complicated family situation going on. So please giver her a bit of time to warm up to you, alright?"

"Alright." Theo sighed.

"Okay. See you."

"Bye, Nessa."

Theo made his way up to the Apartment feeling tired. Interacting with Max was always a drain.

"You back, Theo?" Kayden asked as he came in.

"Yeah." He called.

"How was it?" She asked. He could tell she was just being polite by asking, but he answered honestly anyway.

"Got stomped by Brad but managed to keep up with Melody, who I later saw naked, then had a tense conversation with my father, then lunch with Nessa then came back here." He said.

"I'm sorry, did you say you saw Melody naked?" Kayden asked, taken aback.

"She went to the changing room to shower at the same time as me. The woman is not shy." He said, making his way to the kitchen while Kayden silently followed.

"I see. What did you talk with Max about?" He could hear a bit of… He couldn't tell what it was, but he'd call it longing. That was bad.

"He asked me about my date with Tammi. It went the same as talks with him usually go: He tries to pressure you into giving in to what he wants."

"You don't like Tammi?"

"She's grating."

"Ah… Well, welcome back."

"Thanks." He smiled.

—

It was nearly ten now. Meaning he had already been in bed for half an hour. So who was calling this late at night?

"Hello?" Theo answered.

"It's Taylor."

He shot up.

"Taylor. Hi. What's up?"

"You told me to call you today to see when you were free for training."

"Right. I did do that. Yesterday. Okay, I think I can swing Friday afternoon. I'd have picked Wednesday, but I got roped into another date with Tammi."

"Ouch. But Friday works. I'll tell Madison tomorrow."

"Thanks. See you then."

"Later."

Theo flopped back onto his bed. He'd never looked forward to a Friday more.


	11. Omake: Why Taylor makes a bad hostage

There was something about this city that just seemed to not like me. I knew Capes were impossible to escape in a city like this one, but of course I'd end up at the mall the day that not only Circus decides to show up, but the Wards are having some kind of PR event. I hadn't even seen Circus go into the store either. They just showed up, threatened the workers, and started a smash and grab. I didn't know if they were stupid or up to something, because the store they decided to rob was only about fifty feet away from the wards. But I wasn't going to spend time wondering about the decision making processes of someone who seemed to be going out of their way to get all of the wards on their tail.

Instead, I sat on a bench not even thirty feet from the jewelry store Circus had just smashed around in, legs crossed at the knee, tapping a box of cigarettes and my foot. I guess I could add agitation to the list of things that made me want to smoke. The other people near me had all panicked and run away from the chaos, but I just could not bring myself to care. If anything, I was more interested in seeing how this whole thing turned out than running, even as annoyed by the situation as I was.

I slipped a cigarette between my lips and pulled a lighter from my pocket. I took a deep breath as I lit my cigarette, sighing out the smoke as Gallant approached me. He started to say something but stopped as I looked at him.

"Are you old enough to smoke?" He asked.

"You old enough to risk your life fighting crime?" I shot back.

He was silent for a few seconds before shrugging. "I'll need you to get a bit farther away, miss. I'm sure you can see the situation nearby." He gestured to where Circus was in the store, looking like they were coming up with a plan to escape. I noticed the only Wards here besides Gallant were Aegis and Shadow Stalker. Vista, Clockblocker, and Kid Win must've been off duty today. Lucky them.

"Yeah, no. I'm good right here."

"But you could be in danger. It would really help if you'd move. You could get hurt if Circus runs this way."

"Your time would be better spent focusing on Circus than on me." I said, leaning back into the bench, letting my hair hang over the back and looking through the skylight.

He stood there for several seconds as if trying to decide how best to get me to leave when Shadow Stalker called out to him.

"Gallant! Leave the civie alone and get back over here!"

He looked at me for a few more seconds before jogging back over to his team.

It was only a few minutes before Circus decided to get out of there, bursting through the glass of the jewelry shop and throwing a fire ball at Aegis. He tanked the hit and Gallant and Shadow Stalker shot at Circus, who hit the ground and rolled under them. They swept Stalker off her feet and slammed a sledgehammer into Aegis' chest before rolling past a blast from Gallant. It seemed like they were trying to fight instead of get away. I realized why when Circus went for the door and Glory Girl showed up to block the way. I didn't even know she was here.

Circus made a hard turn, running towards the stairs past me.

Then we made eye contact. I glared as they B lined it towards me. Hostages weren't usually Circus' M.O, but I guess exception could be made. I stood up to better fight when they got closer and they vaulted the bench, dodging Stalkers tranquilizer bolts and flipping over me. I didn't really get a chance to react, partially from shock, as Circus coiled around me like a snake.

"Great." Stalker scoffed.

"I told you this would happen." Gallant said. Aegis was keeping Glory Girl from rushing in and possibly hurting me in the process.

Circus ignited their hands, firing fire balls at the Wards as warning. Circus pulled a knife from their hammer space and pressed it to my throat, knocking their heel into my side to get me moving like I was a horse.

That was a line too far. I took a long drag off my cigarette and blew the smoke out my nose. Circus tapped me on the head a few times, trying to make me move, but I reached up, grabbed their knife arm, and flipped them off me. To their credit, Circus caught themselves and didn't hit the bench like I'd been planning. But I still had their arm. I pulled, yanking them back and tripping them to the ground. I felt more than heard the pop of the arm I was holding. I was pretty sure it broke it at both the elbow and shoulder. The heroes approached, Gallant trying to thank me for the help.

I wasn't quite done yet.

I held Circus' arm and just let loose. I started stomping on them. Hard.

"How dare you!? The fuck do you think you are?! Stupid bitch! Lucky I don't rip it off, dumb asshole. Better hope you didn't fuck up my hair or you're dead! You hear me? YOU'RE DEAD!"

"Hey, that's enough!" Aegis grabbed me, and flew me away from the now grievously injured Circus.

"Holy shit!" Glory Girl said.

Shadow Stalker didn't say anything, but she was loose like she was confused about what had just happened.

"Uh, well… We appreciate the help. But you know you're probably going to have to come to HQ to fill out some paperwork about this, right?"

"Fuck." Of course this was how I got the PRT's attention. The second Aegis let me go I dipped out, using a Sonido to get as far as I could. I may have just outed myself, but there was no way I was dealing with the PRT like this.

"Wonder if there are any good pastry shops around here?" I could deal with the fallout later. Sweets were more important.


	12. Interlude 1.a II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, and possibly the only, interlude in first person. I felt this chapter worked better if was told from in Madison's head rather than third person. There's a lot of nuance that can be lost in third person that I didn't want to lose in this chapter. We also get to see her discover some things about herself and inadvertently use one of her powers.

I had no idea how Taylor dealt with the shit she was constantly put through. It was only Wednesday and I was already considering dropping out or killing myself. I had pulled away from Emma's group a bit since Monday and they smelled blood in the water and swarmed like the starving sharks they were. They would push me to get up to the front of the group to walk by Emma and Sophia. They'd push me while I was doing my make up to make me smear it. I had a drink or two spilled in my shoes. And this was just from disappearing at lunch and not actively coming up with ways to torture Taylor and others.

Fucking vultures.

Julia was especially quick to turn. I was never _really_ close to her, but I did consider her more of a friend than the others. Guess I got a taste of what Taylor went through with Emma, not that I can say I probably didn't earn that. Needless to say that made sitting with my regular group in Mr. G's class a bit grating. We were all just ignoring the slowly growing elephant in the room. But I'd preferred that to having them grilling me over what was going on with me. I wasn't willing to let them pick at my carcass anymore than they had.

"Well, TV is definitely different." Heather twirled her hair with a finger.

"Oh, I know! Watching stuff from Aleph is such a different experience than watching stuff from here. It's like they have a whole different state of mind." Stacey droned. Her voice was always dull and no one could ever figure out why.

I tuned them out at that point. I didn't really care what Julia had to say and I didn't have anything to contribute. The assignment was to discuss the differences of media between Earth's Aleph and Bet. How different historical things shaped entertainment. I rarely watched Aleph imports unless it was super hero stuff and I wasn't willing to let them know that about me. Last thing I needed tacked onto me with my recent drop in status was that I was a cape geek and worse that I was a comic nerd. I wasn't ready for them to start making fun of me for that. I wouldn't have been able to handle it.

A loud bang snapped me out of my musing and I, like most of the rest of the class looked over to the cause of the commotion. Taylor had slammed her hand on the table.

"That's fucking bullshit, Greg, and you know it!" She pointed at him.

"It's not! They have way better tracks! Way more people like them!" Greg shouted back.

"You're not going to sit here and try to convince me The fucking Sex Pistols are better than The Misfits! The Sex Pistols have like two songs! Johnny Rotten is good but he's not Glenn Danzig good!" She was throwing her hands around, speaking very animatedly. I didn't know she liked punk rock.

"Johnny Rotten is way better than Glenn Danzig!"

"No he's not!" She shrieked. She opened her mouth to speak again when Mr. G stepped in.

"Alright, that's enough. What happened here?" He asked.

"We were talking about how some albums have different songs on them between Earths and this cretin starts with his blasphemous claims that The Sex Pistols are better than The Misfits! That's like saying The Trashmen are better than The Beach Boys!" Taylor threw her hands in the air in exasperation.

"They are." Greg said.

"You fucking—."

"Surfing Bird is a great song, alright!"

"It's a good song, but it doesn't stand up to *anything the Beach Boys put out."

"They're better." Greg said.

"Brian Wilson is a fucking genius and The Trashmen couldn't hold a candle to The Beach Boys if all of them had dementia." Taylor growled.

"That's enough." Mr. G cut in. "You shouldn't even be talking about this. I'll let it go this time, but don't let it happen again."

"Okay." Greg sighed.

"Yes, sir." Taylor said sarcastically, turned away from him.

"Good." Mr. G nodded with a smile, apparently not noticing or caring about the sarcasm.

Class quieted down quickly but there were still whispers about the argument. I thought it was funny, if a little heated for something like music. More than that I had never seen Taylor so passionate about something. It was… nice… yeah, that was the word. It felt nice knowing I hadn't helped *completely stomp out Taylors flames. There were still embers burning down there and I wanted to help reignite them. It would take a lot of time to build up the trust for her to let me help, but I was willing to do whatever I needed to get her to let me in.

The bell rang and I gathered my things, offering a quick "Later" to the Vultures before heading out.

—

Every day at lunch I would meet Taylor in a random spot of her choosing around school and she'd bring us to the isolation world. We'd eat lunch, maybe exchange a few quick words while letting our food settle, then we'd spar.

Well, spar was a generous way of putting it. Taylor kicked the absolute shit out of me every lunchtime. Happily. It wasn't even that she was the naturally better fighter, just that I couldn't touch her. She had to let me hit her and she almost never did. I had to earn my hits by catching her off guard enough that she couldn't phase. It was easily one of the more difficult things I'd tried to do. But I enjoyed our spars. There was something about them but I couldn't be sure.

A kick to the knee brought me back to reality.

I leaned back to dodge Taylor's punch and leaned back in to counter. I didn't know if it had been a feint or she just knew what I was going to do, but the next thing I saw was a heel in my face. She hit me square in the jaw and my head snapped to the side taking me with it. I stumbled, but not much else. The kick hurt, but it didn't _hurt_. The pain was distant and far away. Like I wasn't the one feeling it. It was like saying "ow" when you bump into something and expect it to hurt but it's just a dull thud that fades before the word leaves your mouth.

I blocked a hit and threw my hand out to attack. She ducked it and I bent forward slightly with an "Umph" as she hit me in the stomach. She usually followed those up with knees or uppercuts, so I was caught off guard when she instead stomped on my foot and palmed me in the chest, knocking me over and twisting my ankle. There was no real damage, it healed itself in seconds, but I was still confused by that one. I rolled back and got to my feet, dashing forward and throwing out a combo I'd seen Sophia use before. She dodged most of the hits but blocked the last one. I planned to use that to surprise attack her and swung my other fist towards her face.

She let it phase through her face and brought her head down, slamming her forehead into my nose. How she managed that so well with the six inch height difference I would never know. I stumbled back and caught a few more hits to the face. I saw her swipe at my face, aiming for my eyes and I felt a small pang of terror from deep within. I closed my eyes and felt the sharp end of her elbow land directly against my nose.

I fell back and didn't get back up.

"Alright, I guess we're done for now." Taylor said with a cheerful smile, stretching casually like she hadn't just broken my nose. I stood up and dusted myself off, wiping my face and smearing blood on my arm.

"You know you're a terrifying fighter, right?" I asked as we started toward the bathroom. We always finished after lunch. I wanted to avoid art as much as I could and Taylor avoided being around Sophia like the plague, which meant skipping P.E class. I'd heard about some of the things they'd done to her in P.E and I couldn't say I'd be eager to be stuck in a locker room with Sophia either, in her position. Especially not with Sophia still upset about the "animal" remark from last Thursday. No, it was probably better that she just skipped and dealt with her somewhere that was less volatile and isolated.

"I'd hope so." She laughed.

The rest of the walk to the third floor bathroom was silent. We rarely spoke to one another casually despite eating together every day. She just didn't want to talk to me, more content to read her books, and I didn't want to annoy her and I couldn't really think of anything to talk with her about. Unless she read comics or Cape Fiction there wasn't much to talk about. I didn't know her well enough to start a conversation that could flow naturally.

She brought us back to reality and I walked over to the sink nearest the door while Taylor sat on the counter at the furthest end of the bathroom. It was only about ten feet, but it was enough for me to notice. She never sat close to me during my after spar cleanups. Always as far from me as she could get. I couldn't blame her, but the isolation stung a bit.

She pulled a pack of cigarettes from her jacket and pulled one from the package with her mouth, lighting it with her thumb. That was still a trick I hadn't figured out how to do. I'd actually ruined more than one packs of cigarettes like that. Nearly blew a hole in the roof of the school too. She blew out a puff of smoke as I started cleaning the blood off my face. A bead of blood made it's way from my nose while was grabbing tissues and I stuck my tongue out to lick it. Looking in the mirror and seeing my tousled hair, the blood smeared across my face, and realizing how casually I went to just lick it away, I felt something. I… I looked _hot_. I didn't know what it was but seeing myself like that brought something out in me and I really, _really_ liked it. Then I realized it was because it meant something. It meant I was alive. I was human. I could still bleed the same red blood as everyone else. I felt like a monster sometimes, but seeing myself looking all bloodied up, on top of just being something I apparently liked, reminded me I could still change. Despite how empty I felt I could still be a better person if I put some effort into it.

I couldn't help myself. I started laughing. A stifled giggle at first that slowly broke into hysterical guffawing. She didn't say anything, but I could see Taylor side eyeing me with something between concern and confusion, though I doubted the former was aimed at me. I managed to calm myself down after a few seconds and started cleaning again.

"That's not your usual brand." I said, pointing out Taylor had a different box of cigarettes than usual.

She twisted the box in her hand and nodded.

"I felt like spoiling myself today." She said. "These are Seven Stars. They're Japanese imports and they're expensive, so I don't smoke them often since Lucky Strikes are cheaper," I grimaced at the name. I had no idea how she could stand to smoke Lucky Strike of all things. "And I don't have money to buy imports even with as infrequently as I smoke."

"So Lucky Strike is just what you smoke because it the best of what you can get?"

"Yeah." She sighed. "I really like Sakura brand cigarette's too, but they're damn near impossible to find because it's apparently the brand Lung smokes. I get lucky to find a pack every few weeks."

"You smoke anything else?"

"This European brand called Black Devil. They do flavors, but I only really started them cause I like the boxes." That sounded like something she'd do. And why I started smoking American Spirits. I decided to change the topic. This was going well so far, so maybe I could get her to start trusting me a bit more. "There's another Japanese brand called Peace that I buy mostly because it comes in these cool metal tins."

"Why'd you tell me not to drop the popular girls? Wouldn't it be better just be open about me spending time with you?"

"Well for one that would paint a big target on my back, two: start some rumors neither of us want, and three: we aren't friends. But most importantly I'm not going to be here much longer."

"What does that mean?"

"I'm testing out of school soon."

"Testing out?" I was confused. I didn't think that was a thing people did. I knew it was possible, but it was so rare.

"Yep. Compulsory schooling age in New Hampshire is sixteen. Apparently they tried to raise it a few years ago but the bill went nowhere. So once you hit sixteen you can sign up for a test and if you pass you get the equivalent of a diploma."

"Like a GED?"

"Kinda. It looks better to colleges than a GED."

"We really just ruined school for you, huh?"

"Yep." She nodded.

It was silent, save for the sound of running water as I finished washing all the blood off of me. There was one more question I wanted to know the answer to and it had been bugging me all week.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" I asked, looking down into the sink.

Taylor was quiet for a few seconds before I heard a low groan of frustration from her. I looked up and saw her scratching her head violently as the groan increased in volume and emotion until she ended it and hopped off the counter.

"Because as much as I hate you, I'm trying, very, very hard to be a better person than that. I want nothing more than to hurt you in so many ways. Every time we spar I'm tempted just reach through you and tear out a rib and stab you with it." She punctuated this point by casually swiping her hand through the wall and showing me a metal bar that she pulled from inside. "It would be that easy. It would take no effort to just phase your spinal cord out of your body and let you die slowly. But that's not what I want to be. I don't want to lose myself like that and start just slaughtering people. I want to be better than that. And since you're really trying I thought the least I could do was be cordial, not _nice_ , cordial with you. Civil. Despite everything you've done and helped do to me. As long as you don't try anything and continue to try to be a better person, I'm willing to reign in my anger and not make you choke on your own kidneys." She sighed as she leaned back against the counters, a puff of smoke leaving her mouth.

The scary thing was I didn't doubt for a second she would actually do that to me. I had learned Taylor was very patient but even she had her limits. She also wasn't the type of person to make threats she had no intention of following through with. If I pissed her off enough the chances of my choking on my own kidneys were high.

I nodded.

"Alright." I said. "I understand."

"Good." She sat back up on the counter and we didn't speak again until it was time for class.

—

"How was school, sweetie?" Mom asked as I got home. I was one of the rare days where she didn't have to spend the afternoon alone. Dad worked long hours and Mom usually wasn't home until around six or seven. Getting home from school to see her on the couch was unusual.

"It was… fine." I said.

"Fine usually means 'I don't want to tell you how bad it is'." She said. "Come sit down and talk about it with me."

I sat down, but I didn't want to talk. I wouldn't know where to start and I was terrified of her reaction if I told her everything. I knew she wouldn't approve, but I didn't want her mad at me. She could get really intense when she was mad enough, and learning I'd helped torture someone for nearly two years would probably send her straight past anger and right towards apoplectic.

"Well?" She asked.

"School has been… Less than good."

"Did something happen?"

"I… How do you start to get along with someone who hates you?"

"Why would you want to get along with someone who hates you? I know you like making friends, but you have to understand that not everyone will like you. If this person hates you that's—."

"Hold on. Let me rephrase that. How do you start to make up with someone who has every right to hate you?"

She blinked. Her eyes were darting around as she started to think over the question. Finally, her gaze intensified into the one mothers give when they're extremely upset but are reserving judgment until they know what you did.

"Why would this person have any right to hate you at all?"

I took a deep breath to calm myself. Even with my emotions having been muted for so long, this was something that made me feel deep fear.

"I… Have been… Less than friendly with her." I said.

"What did you do?"

"I… Have… uh…" This was embarrassing. Why couldn't I just get this out? I knew I'd done wrong. I knew I deserved to be punished for it. But looking at the increasingly upset and disappointed look on my moms face made me freeze up. It made my blood cold like ice and my heart speed up.

"What. Did. You. Do?" Her eyes narrowed.

I took a deep breath and centered myself. One of the few times I'd ever had to focus to not feel anything. I felt it all wash away and my mind clear.

"I… Helped bully someone." She gasped. "Really, really badly." I said, looking down. I'd rather focus on the floor or couch than see whatever she was feeling in her face.

I heard her breathing pick up and she started to fumble whatever words she was trying to speak. She took a few ragged breaths to calm herself down and I heard one harsh word leave her mouth.

" _Explain_."

"The short version is to keep my position with the popular group and be spared their wrath. It was free social points at first, but the longer it went on the more I hated myself for doing it. Now I'm trying to make it up to her because she didn't deserve any of it and I can't stand that I helped push someone far enough that I think she might be suicidal."

" _WHAT_?!"

I flinched back at that.

"She may or may not be suicidal. I can't actually tell because she's closed herself off to everyone. She said she has severe trust issues because the main bully was her ex-best fried. Since I've started to pull away from them they've started doing things to me too. Someone soaked my socks in water after P.E yesterday."

She was stammering again. Words half spoken or whole sentences jumbled into incoherent sounds of rage.

"I didn't raise you like this. I know social stigma can be a powerful motivator, but not to this extent. I'm glad to know you aren't so far gone that you'd try to justify your actions, but I can't tell if you're trying to make up with her because you're hoping to lessen your guilt, or if you genuinely feel bad about what you've done. I'm disappointed and angry at you, but I can't deal with this right now. So I'm going to need you to go to your room and not come out until your father gets home." She said the words calmly but her eye was twitching up a storm. I nodded and headed to my room while she relaxed.

I'd have a hell of a conversation later, and I'd probably be grounded for forever, but I didn't feel too bad. I laid back on my bed, tuned on my CD player, and let the world drift away.


	13. Scabbard 1.5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thus ends Arc 1. Map is from Ridprime.

Another day at school, another day of Herculean effort put into not annihilating Winslow High in its entirety. Well, I say Herculean, but really as little as I care, almost any effort at this point would count as a lot. It wasn't like they could actually Birdcage me if they tried. Hell, maybe I'd catch a ride on the next transport there just to see what it was like. I could probably get some good minions out of there too. If I could spring Marquis and have him work for us that would already put us in a far better place. Maybe I could grab Lustrum too if she could chill on the anti-men shtick. Who else was even in there that I could convince to join me? The Fairy Queen? As if. She might be strong, but I wouldn't know what to do with her and her weirdness. Pot meet kettle, yeah, whatever.

Anyway, I decided to start the day with a smoke. Sat outside one of the back doors and used my powers to light up. I didn't do the whole snap and wave thing I usually did in case anyone was watching. Just a spark of blue at the end of my smoke so quick you'd think it was your eyes playing tricks on you. I had decided on grabbing my box of Sakura's since I had three or four of them saved up at this point. They weren't quite as rare as Black Devil, but rare enough that I didn't smoke them regularly.

It was only a few seconds after I lit up that Madison came around the corner. She stopped when she saw me, tensing slightly, but relaxing just as quickly and walking towards me, stopping at a respectable distance of around seven feet. She fumbled with her box, brand new with the plastic still on it, before she managed to get one out. Apparently she'd been practicing lighting up with her Cero because the blast was small, quick, and dissipated by the time it was high enough to reach the roof of the school. We stood in silence for a few minutes, neither of us saying anything. I was happy to continue that way until class started, but she must have felt awkward.

"I got in trouble." She said. When I didn't say anything after a few seconds she continued, "I told my mom about what I did. To you. She was real mad. But I don't regret it. I don't feel less guilty, but I guess it's nice to know she cares enough to try to help me be better."

"Lucky you." I droned blandly, blowing smoke out my nose.

"Problems at home?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary."

She either didn't get what I was saying or took the hint that I didn't want to talk about it and simply nodded.

"I'm pretty grounded. No TV or anything like that for a while. But, she said if I'm doing anything with you, I can go, no problem." She tensed again, taking a long drag of her cigarette before speaking again. "She wanted me to invite you to dinner some time soon. Whenever works for you just let me know and I'll tell her."

"If I take you up on this, should I bring my dad?"

"Probably."

"I'll think about it."

"I'm glad." There's no emotion in her voice.

—

"There you are, Hebert." Sophia sneers, my name spat like it tasted sour in her mouth.

I curse whatever God saw fit to place this bitch and her friends on the path to today's vanishing point. I highly doubted they planned this considering we were only a few feet from the office, but I knew I wanted to get out of here as fast as possible. I start to turn the corner to make a slight detour to my destination, but Emma steps in front of me, apparently having been waiting there. Of course she was.

"Trying to run away again." Sophia snorts. "Not surprising. You're even quitting school. That's all a spineless coward like you knows how to do, isn't it? Run away."

I stare at her blankly for few seconds trying to figure out how she could have possibly known that. It seemed I'd have to go harder on Madison today.

"Don't have anything to say, Taylor?" Emma asked. "You were always the talkative type. What happened?"

I don't bother even looking at Emma and instead speak to Sophia.

"Well, there's no point staying in school when it would be a breeze to test out early. You think you're the only reason I wanna get out of this shit hole school? You're a minor inconvenience at best." I said blandly. That seemed to make her upset.

"A minor inconvenience, huh? That why you went crying to Blackwell so often? Why you skip so many classes? If you're gonna be a pussy at least own up to it."

"Please, like a weak little worm like her could ever have any pride in herself. Look at how the trollop dresses." Emma mocked. "Baggy pants and oversized sweaters? Muted colors? Slouched posture? She's just trying to hide herself away and hope we don't notice her. And now she's running away because she can't take it anymore."

I didn't say anything to the fact that "trollops" didn't dress in baggy clothes, nor did I bother pointing out that I wore blacks and pastels. I'd realized my clothing habits early on after getting my powers and had started rectifying that, but I still liked big, baggy sweatshirts. They were comfortable.

"Do you even know what trollop means?"

"Of course I do." She huffed, but didn't offer a meaning. I knew Emma wasn't stupid, but going into high school her options were Winslow or Immaculata. So while she wasn't dumb, she wasn't the smartest either. I could only assume she had a contextual meaning of the word from movies or something and wasn't sure enough to say it out loud.

"Uh huh. Well, I shouldn't be surprised at that level of vanity coming from you, but I am. Who knew little miss sits-on-daddy's-lap-because-she-likes-the-bump would could still surprise me." Emma went red at that and a few of the girls looked at her oddly. "I mean, you're the same girl that not only did that until she was twelve, but was more than adamant about giving me her first kiss when she saw her sister making out with her boyfriend. Or maybe I should bring up the time you Frenched your dad because you saw your mom do it? Oh, I know, how about that diary you used to keep about how hot you thought your daddy was when we were eleven? You really thought you could marry him."

She was sputtering now, trying to get words out but everything came out at once as alphabet soup. Her friends were on the edge of laughing at her while Sophia was glaring.

"I told you to keep that a secret!" Emma finally got out.

"Rules for thee but not for me. Funny how that works out, huh? When you break trust first that means it's fair game, bitch. Though I have to say, Sophia, I didn't think you were so vane to think everything I do is because of you. You honestly think I'm going to be in sitting at home in my thirties thinking 'Damn that Sophia! She ruined my life!'? Nah, you're not worth it. You're tiny. A small little blip on the map in the grand scheme of things. I'll get out of this dumpster fire of a school and move on with my life because you just don't matter."

She growled and stepped forward, fists clenched. It didn't surprise me that someone like her would take offense to something like that. Emma stopped her and gave me a serious look.

"At least I didn't kill my mom."

I took a step back at that, eyes widened slightly, mouth dropped open in horror. For the faintest of seconds I felt it all slip away and I started to raise my hand to slice the entire school in half. It was only a twitch in the end, but it was close. I recomposed myself and started to talk, but Sophia was emboldened by my reaction.

"You say I'm small, but what about you? You take a hit and fold like a house of cards. You're never going to go anywhere in life. You're too weak. If you can't even take a little ribbing in school there's no way you'd survive the real world. You would be lucky to score a minimum wage job at some gas station and hope you don't get killed during a robbery. I'd never let myself be in your position."

"You two really are sociopaths. You think you could deal with what you put me through? You'd have gotten yourself expelled several times over you violent sack of shit. You put me in a no win situation. No one cares. The other students don't care, the teachers don't care, the administration doesn't care, fuck, at some point I stopped caring. Mrs. Knott is the only one who ever tried to help me. Quinlan is either blind or apathetic, Gladly cares more about being popular than he does his students, and Blackwell is just here to cut a check. So where does that leave me? Out for myself where it's impossible to win. So I fight back and then what? I catch a case for your dumb ass? No. Not happening. I tried, I failed, and eventually I saw the truth: You're not worth it."

Sophia got wound up again and started to stomp towards me. Emma tried to stop her, but she walked forward with purpose, fists clenched tight.

"Hey!"

We stopped to see Blackwell standing in the doorway of the office. The narrowly build blonde usually had a scowl on her face, but now she just looked like we'd kicked her puppy.

"All of you, come here." She said. One of the flunkies was the first to move, trying to get her side of the story out first. Blackwell cut her off. "I heard enough of what happened. In my office." She growled. We all started towards her, Emma and Sophia shooting me looks as we made our way over. "You," She pointed to me, "Wait out here."

"Kay." I said, sliding into one of the waiting room chairs.

The door nearly slammed behind her as the four girls went into the office. I pulled out my cigarettes and lit one up.

"You can't smoke in here." The receptionist said. She had a name plaque on her desk, I just never bothered to learn what it was. I don't think I'd called her anything other than 'Receptionist' in over a year.

"Watch me." I scoffed. She gave me a hard look, but my 'withered eyes of apathy' beat her out and she left me be. I was halfway done with my cigarette when the other girls came out. They didn't seem annoyed or anything, so my best guess was they got off the hook. Though Sophia still sneered at me as they passed by. I was finished by the time Black well called me into her office.

"Come here, Ms. Hebert." She said. I stood, tossing my cigarette but in the trash, and walked towards her. She looked confused, then upset. "Not only are you too young to be smoking, but doing so in such a blatant manner on school grounds…" She trailed off. "Sit down."

She closed the door and walked around to her desk while I casually took my seat.

"Now, they say you started it."

"Which is a lie, but you don't care about that so what's my punishment going to be?"

"You're going to be suspended for three days." She said before picked up on what I'd said. "Hold on, you're not going to tell me your side of the story?"

"You've made up your mind. Nothing I say matters." I shrug. "For curiosity sake, why am I suspended for three days and how much of that conversation did you hear?"

"Why does it matter how much I heard?" She glared.

I shrug. "Like I said, for curiosity sake."

"I heard the tail end. What Sophia said and the part about how you think I'm 'only here to cut a check'."

"So you completely missed the part where Emma called me a trollop and accused me of being responsible for my mothers death. Cool. So why the suspension."

She sat there, eyes widened slightly at what I said.

"For inciting a fight."

"Okay. Can I go now?"

"I really would like to help you, but I need more evidence than what you tell me."

"I don't believe that for a second. I'd appreciate you not lie to my face like that again."

Her face hardened. "Would you like to make that a week?"

"Sure."

"Then how about two?"

"Don't threaten me with a good time."

Her scowl tightened.

"One weeks suspension. Get out of my office and don't let me catch you like that again."

I scoff. "Whatever." I stand up and walk out before she can say anything else.

—

The thing about people like Emma is that they get arrogant when they've won. They don't consider the long term. They don't consider reprisal is an option. They don't see individual battles spread across an overarching war. They take what's in front of them and whatever comes they'll deal with when it comes.

Which is why I was now having lunch with the money I stole from her purse.

It wasn't difficult. The dumb bitch kept her purse in her locker for some reason, probably because she didn't consider that anyone would actually try to steal from her, and left her wallet in there too. So now I was two hundred bucks richer and eating some of the greasiest food available in the Bay. I was probably gonna go buy a new hoodie with her money too. I did find a nice white one at the mall last Saturday. Maybe I'd see if they still had it in stock.

I left the local grease trap with a shake in hand and started down the boardwalk, looking for something to do or buy. I was more than a little surprised to run into Lisa and Alec along with someone else. Where Alec was thin and pretty, this guy was… Hunky. Tall, built, very masculine looking features… yeah, everything I liked.

"Hey, Taylor!" Lisa called, waving me down. She was dressed in a blue skirt and white blouse. It looked nice, but seemed a little old fashioned on her.

"Sup." Alec nodded. He was in a pair of black jeans and a loose fitting shirt.

"Hello." I sipped my shake. "I don't think I know you." I nodded to their third member.

"I'm Brian. I didn't know these two had made a new friend." He said, looking over at Lisa and Alec.

"We met last week." Lisa said. "Just kinda ran into her."

"Well, nice to meet you." He smiled and put his hand out. I took it with a smile of my own.

"Oh, the pleasure is all mine." I said.

"Down girl." Lisa tapped me on the head.

"Unnecessary." I said, rubbing the spot.

"What are you even doing here? Don't you have school?" Alec asked.

"Got suspended." I shrugged.

Alec's eyes widened a bit, like he didn't expect that of me. Brian just hummed. Lisa… was staring.

"You got into a fight. An argument." She started. "The girls who… You got suspended but they didn't. You got revenge by stealing from one of them." She paused then her face went white. "Please don't hurt her too bad." She said.

"Hurt who?" Brian asked.

"I'm not making any promises." I said.

"Well, how about you join us? It'll be a good way to blow of steam. I dragged these two with me shopping." She smirked.

"I don't have a lot. I was looking to buy a new hoodie though."

"Don't you have enough hoodie's?"

"I don't have one in bright white."

"How about this, I'll buy you some clothes and a bright white one as long as it's not a baggy monstrosity like you have on."

"Deal."

"Great! Hope you like skirts!"

I almost choked on my shake.

"Hey, wait, no!"

"Too late." She smirked, dragging me off towards a shop. "You've got long legs and you're going to show them off."

Ten minutes later we were in a store and Lisa was doing her best to bury me under a mountain of clothes.

I hated shopping for clothes. Not just because I was a bean pole, I'd reconciled that I'd never have curves after seeing what mom looked like at my age and realizing I took after dad in build, though my powers had helped by fixing some of the things I disliked, but because I just didn't enjoy it. Well, I didn't enjoy having to try on outfit after outfit after outfit. It kind of felt like a waste of time, and with Lisa constantly bringing me more and more outfits to try on, she was starting to try my patience.

"Hey, calm down." She said as she came back with yet another outfit. I was already on outfit number twenty nine and at least the twelfth set of skirts. "I'm trying to cheer you up. How can you not be enjoying this? I know you wish you had more curves, but you're attractive."

I gave her a long blank look.

"You are!" She said. "And you'll only get better with age. I swear, if you went out in one of these outfits, maybe stopped looking like you were ready to die, you'd have guys after you!"

I stepped out of the changing rooms and called across the store to the guys.

"Brian, Alec, I look good in this? Honest opinion!" I was dressed in a skirt that showed off a lot more thigh than I was really comfortable with a short sleeved crop top that showed off my, admittedly impressive, abs. I wasn't overly muscular, still being rather thin, but I had very little stomach fat and my muscles were visible.

Alec, who wasn't far, looked over at me and nodded. "I'd fuck you."

"Jesus Christ, Alec!" Lisa nearly shouted.

Brian walked over and took a long look at me. I felt my face heat up a bit under his attention.

"Yeah, you look good." He nodded.

"See?!" Lisa said. "Despite Alec's crass answer, I told you, you could draw a crowd." She turned a beaming, smug smile towards me.

"Fine, fine, you're right." I sigh. "Can we speed this up."

"You're no fun. You boys go back to what you were doing. Taylor still has a few more outfits to try on."

I groan, but follow her back into the changing rooms anyway.

"Oh yeah, we're doing a training session tonight." I say as I pull on a different shirt and skirt pair.

"I'll see if I can be there. Maybe I can drag Alec's lazy ass off the couch for long enough."

"Alright."

"So you're really interested in Brian, huh?" She smirked.

"I mean…" I trailed off, not really sure how to explain it.

"You don't think you can trust someone enough for a relationship."

"Exactly. I mean, I guess sex would be fine. But trusting someone with my emotions and secrets the way an actual relationship requires… I don't think I'm ready for that. I don't think I will be for a long time."

I got a sardonic snort from the other side of the door.

"It's funny that I'm the exact opposite. I can trust people enough that a romantic relationship could be on the table, but I can always tell someone's true intentions and it turns me off so much that I can't be intimate with people in that way."

I snort. "God, why does everything have to be so fucked up?"

Lisa snorted too, laughter bubbling through. "I really wish I knew."

We finished shopping half an hour later and I walked out the store dressed in a new black skirt and a thin, tight fitting, white hoodie. I new she said it couldn't be baggy, but the thing might as well have been skin tight by comparison.

"You know you spent too much on me, right?" I asked.

"Oh hush. I offered to buy." Lisa said.

"Yeah, but I didn't think you'd buy me a whole new wardrobe."

"It's only six outfits."

"It cost you more money than I've spent in the last month."

"Oh shit, you're not joking." She looked at me.

"No, I'm not."

"Well just shut up and be appreciative. You want to grab food with us?"

"I already ate, but I could eat some more."

"Are you a bottomless pit or something?" Alec asked.

"When it comes to food, I might as well be."

"I hate people who can eat whatever they want and not get fat. It's so unfair." Lisa joked. Or half joked. I couldn't tell.

"I'd rather have tits."

Alec burst into laughter while Lisa just sighed, though there was a small smile on her face. I didn't hear Brian make a sound, but looking back I saw a pensive smile on his face, like he was trying not to laugh.

"Shut up. Let's go get food." Lisa bumped into me as we walked.

—

Dad got home later than usual and didn't go straight for the fridge. Instead, he walked over to the side of the couch and looked at me.

"Yes?" I asked.

"You got suspended." He said, his face twisted between concern and a bit of anger. "How did that happen?"

"The girls who usually mess with me tried it today. I was having none of it and told them to fuck off. We went back and forth and I basically told them to collectively deep throat a cactus and the principal heard only what I said so I got suspended for a week."

"She told me three days." He said, looking off to the side. "How'd you get it bumped up to a week?"

"For disrespecting her. Basically called her a liar to her face because she claimed to want to help but has never actually tried to help. She also heard me say I thought she was only there to cut a check."

That got a laugh out of him.

"Well, there are certainly worse things to be suspended for. Did you cook?"

"Chicken." I nodded.

"Alright." He yawned. "I'm gonna eat then head to bed. You gonna be alright by yourself for the night?"

"I'll be fine."

"Alright." He started toward the kitchen, but lingered for a second. When I started to look up at him he kept walking.

I shook my head and sighed.

—

I was actually pretty calm by the time I was supposed to head to training. Didn't mean there wouldn't be reprisal but I wasn't out for blood so I probably wouldn't kill her.

When I walked through the portal Theo and Madison were already there. Apparently they decided to get there early and talk. When Madison saw me she stood up.

"Taylor! I—." She didn't get a chance to finish as I hit her in the face. The sound was like thunder. She bounced off the floor and then hit the wall hard enough to bounce off of that.

"Taylor! What the hell?!" Theo shouted. He moved to block my path but I walked through him. Madison was on her knees, hunched over with one hand on the ground and the other on her face. She noticed me too late and kicked her in the stomach, folding her over my foot like a lawn chair. She made a sound between a wet gasp, a dry heave, and a gag before she was sent flying. The room didn't have a roof, but it did have gravity, so it wasn't like she'd be up there forever, no matter how hard I kicked her. When she finally came back down I hit her in the back, sending her across the room and bouncing off another wall. She didn't try to get up this time, which was fine with me.

I stomped on her hand and she hissed. I brought my other foot to the side of her head and pressed down.

"You know I'm kind of glad I hadn't started putting any real stock in you. It's been less than a week and you're already telling them things? How did I ever—."

"Amber." She choked out. I lessened the pressure on her head.

"What?"

"It was Amber. She overheard us talking on Wednesday."

I slowly took my foot off her head, but kept the one on her hand.

"And why should I trust you on that?"

"I… I really do want to be your friend, Taylor. I know it won't come over night, or even in a few weeks. I'm not expecting you to warm up to me for months, at least, but I would never do anything to jeopardize what little faith you have in me that I won't fuck this all up. You have to believe me on that. Even if you never trust me enough to be friends, I'm not going to go back to the way I treated you before. Never. I don't want to be that monster anymore."

I didn't let her hand go for several seconds, trying to decide if she was pulling one over on me.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't get a chance. They dragged me off the second class ended. I was hoping I'd get a chance to tell you before you ran into Sophia or Emma."

I took a deep breath and sighed as I let go of her hand. She started rubbing it, but stopped when I snapped my fingers. She looked surprised and confused that she wasn't in pain anymore.

"I negated the effect of the beat down I just gave you. As far as your body is concerned nothing happened."

"Holy shit." Theo whispered from nearby.

"Take a minute to calm down and we'll start. Hopefully Lisa and Alec will show up at some point.

Lisa did. Alec apparently couldn't be bothered to figure out what he could do. We trained for a few hours, rather, I trained them for a few hours. Lisa got a feel of her illusions and even learned she could just randomly cause other people to feel pain. Madison figured out some sort of "Null Energy" as Lisa called it. She couldn't really see what it was, but she got enough of an idea to know it wasn't really natural. As for Theo, we learned he could cause explosions and disintegrate things. My own training was mostly working with my spatial distortion. I could do a lot of things with it, but out side of stretching space like Vista I couldn't control it the way I wanted. Some of it was easy, like floor tilting, but slicing space apart at long ranges was a pain. Unless I was phasing through things to cut them I had no control. I could potentially slice half of Brockton in half on a dimensional level if I ever did it during a fight.

Eventually, we did wind down and finish our training. We were sitting down, relaxing around the table when I spoke up.

"Alright, kiddies—,"

"I'm a year older than you." Lisa said.

"Alright kiddies," I said again, "I've got some homework for you."

"Aw, man." Lisa groaned like child.

"You need to come up with a name for when we go out and do stuff." I finished.

"A cape name?" Madison asked.

"Yes, you need a cape name. We're meeting up again on Sunday to talk about our plans for where we want things to go, so try to have one by then."

"That's a lot of pressure." She said.

"No it's not. You don't have to worry about how it sounds to other people, it just has to sound good and not be too long."

"Yeah, the people on PHO will shorten it for you if it's too long. Someone made a fake villain named "Genocide Scythe the Eye Raper" in one of the original character threads a while back and everyone was harping on him for the name being too long."

"Oh yeah, I remember that!" Madison snapped up. "He got super pissy when someone shortened it to "Genoscythe" and the name stuck because it made him so upset. So now it's a massive meme in a lot of cape fic."

The room was silent as everyone stared at Madison.

"… You read cape fic?" Theo asked slowly.

"Uh… Sometimes." She turned red and slouched into her seat.

"You big liar." Lisa smirked. "You're a huge cape groupie! You spend all your time on PHO doing nothing but reading cape fic and talking about getting plowed by capes!"

Madison turned even redder sunk down lower.

I burst out into laughter at that revelation, nearly falling out of my chair. It took a few minutes for me to calm down, but Madison was hiding her face by the time I looked up again.

"Oh fuck, I haven't laughed like that in ages. That felt good." I sighed. "We're done for the day. Names by Sunday. Later."

—

For the first time in a while I actually had something to look forward to on the weekend. I actually did find another white hoodie at the mall on Saturday, but was back home in less than an hour and didn't leave the house again. Dad was gone all day Saturday and was planning to go out with Kurt and Lacey on Sunday, so I just sat around reading.

I showed up in Las Noches a little after Midnight and found Madison already there. We just smoked in silence until Theo showed up. It was twelve thirty when we figured Lisa was either not coming or going to be late.

"Alright, so do you have names?" I asked.

"I do." Madison said.

"Alright, what is it?"

"I figured I should just go with my theme, so I picked Nihilism."

"… As a name?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"That's… a bit on the nose." Theo said.

"Oh…"

"How about something else."

"Ex Nihilo?" Theo asked.

"That's better, but not quite smooth enough. How about Nihilus? It gets the point across and rolls off the tongue smoothly."

"Ooh, I like that. Nihilus." She nodded.

"Okay, how about you?" I look at Theo.

"Uh… Well, it's partly because of my family situation, but I chose Samael."

"Is that Christian?"

"Jewish, actually. Samael is the archangel in Judaism that basically serves the same role as Satan in the Bible. Some of the things he's done even has people think he's a fallen angel, but he's not."

"Samael." I said slowly. "It's a good name. I like it." I wanted to question how picking a name with Jewish origins was related to his family situation, but I let that go. If he wanted to tell us, he would. "My turn. I picked the name Sacrosanct."

"Sacrosanct?" Madison raised an eyebrow.

"Well, it's not hard to say or anything. It's not too long, either. What does it mean?" Theo asked.

"It means most sacred or holy, or Inviolable, which is the main one I'm aiming for. My powers revolve around never taking damage, and Sacrosanct means essentially immune from violation, so it works."

"Now who's name is on the nose." Madison smirked.

"Yeah, but mine isn't a whole philosophy."

"Fine, fine." She relented. "So what are we talking about?"

"Our plans for the future. I think we should lay out a plan to work towards. What gangs to take out first, how we split up territory, that kind of thing." I laid out a map of the city.

"I want the Boardwalk." I said.

"Why?" Madison asked.

I looked down at the map, looking away from her. "My dad's a Dockworker and I want to be able to keep an eye on him."

"Aww!" Madison cooed, "That's so sweet."

"Shut up." I bit out.

She did, but she kept smirking.

"I want downtown." Theo said.

"Any particular reason?" Madison asked.

Theo swallowed and his eyes hollowed like he was remembering something unpleasant.

"It's family stuff."

"If you say so." I say.

"Okay, so my turn." Madison looked over the map. "I want the Trainyard."

"Really?"

"Yeah. There's not a lot over there and not a lot to manage. I actually kind of enjoy all that empty space."

"If you say so." Theo said.

"So that leaves three areas unattended and one person without their own area, unless you count the outskirts of town." I said as I marked the map. "The problem is we don't know enough about who runs what or where to start. I'm sure Lisa knows, which is why I wanted her here. We know the ABB runs the Docks and the Empire runs Downtown, but how much control do they have over each area? Does Lung only run the Docks proper, or does he run the South Docks too? Does Kaiser have control over the commerce district or parts of the Coast?"

"I… I can help a bit." Theo said.

"Huh? How?"

"You have to promise not to freak out and let me explain."

"… Alright…"

"My dad is Kaiser."

"OH FUCK!" Me and Madison both jumped up.

"That's a huge fucking deal, dude!"

"I know, just relax and let me explain!"

"This better be good."

"Kaiser's my dad, but I've never subscribed to his way of thinking. I hate him. It's why I chose a name with Jewish origins and why I want Downtown. Once we get rid of the gangs I want to try to reverse the damage they've done."

"It's fucked up that Kaiser's your dad, but if you really do hate him enough that you're willing to take down the Empire, then we're cool." I said.

"Thanks." He smiled.

A portal opened and Lisa stepped through with a guy dressed in a black biker outfit. She looked okay, her outfit a little messed up, but okay. The guy on the other hand, he looked like he'd just been roasted alive.

"We need help." She panted.

"What the hell happened?"

"Lung."


	14. Forge 2.1

The room was dead silent for what felt like far too long. I blinked, unsure how to take that news. Madison had gone stone still, but there was clear horror on her face. Theo was the one to break the silence. A drawn out groan of despair and frustration leading into a word.

"Fuck!" He shouted. "How the hell did you piss off Lung of all people?!"

"I'll explain later, but we seriously need your help. Grue is barely holding on and I don't think Bitch or Regent can keep distracting him for much longer."

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and flicked Madison's ear to bring her back to reality. I was sure I could take Lung by myself if I beat him fast enough, but the others definitely weren't ready to take on someone like him. At least not without outright killing him, and we didn't need that quite yet. It would be a good rep boost to beat the guy who solo'd the local Protectorate his first week in town, but I knew there would be problems. Especially if they'd already started fighting him. The problem with Lung wasn't his strength, but that he kept getting stronger. If he was a flat Brute, that'd be one thing, but the more he fought the stronger, bigger, and harder to beat he got. That was the problem. His escalation.

"Suit up." I said to the others and turned to Lisa. "How far gone is he?"

"He was a little past eight feet when I came to get you. You don't have to fight him, we just need to hold him off until the heroes show up and we can bail."

I snapped my fingers, fixing Grue back to perfect health.

"You can do what you want. We're taking him down." I said as I slipped my mask and outfit on. "But you're explaining this later."

"Where the hell…?" Grue looked up.

"Worry about it later, Grue." Lisa said.

"Alright, we're starting with an already pissed off Lung." I said to Samael and Nihilus. "When we get down there I'll stretch the area. I need bubbles as support ASAP and explosions to knock him off balance. I'll try to knock him out so we hopefully don't have to move to the big stuff. If you fire a Cero, don't do it towards the buildings. Ready?" They nodded after I laid out the game plan and we ran through the Garganta as quickly as we could.

By the time we show up it's already Hell. Lung was ten feet tall, covered in scales and fire. Regent was holding out alright but Bitch and what I assume are her minions were hurt. I fix them up as I drop down to the ground and stretch the alleyway to the size of a large ballroom.

That seems to get Lung's attention as turns his head, probably searching for Vista.

"Bubbles." I order, and the area fills up with them. Nihilus placed them around the area with gaps that would let an average sized person through with ease, but not the ten foot monster that Lung had become. He laughed at the bubbles at first. Then half his finger got blown off when he poked one.

We learned pretty early on that Nilihus' bubbles contained air pressurized to the point that they could annihilate solid concrete without leaving any debris. Touching them was a bad idea. Letting her fill the area with them was worse.

Lung roared but didn't immediately come after us. Theo set off an explosion behind him, knocking him forward and blowing several holes in his scales as he hit the bubbles. He roared again and started charging, apparently not caring that he wasn't regenerating fast enough to be fully recovered by the time he got to us. I took this as my cue and dashed towards him. I appeared in front of him in an instant, standing slightly off the ground. He didn't have time to stop or rear his fist back to hit me, but that was fine. I thrust my fist out and hit him in the solar plexus. That stopped his momentum cold, but didn't do a lot of damage. He swung his claws at my face but they went right through and I jumped up, kneeing him in the chin.

Lung stumbled back from the blow then was pushed forward as an explosion went off behind him and I hit in the stomach again. That seemed to piss him off enough. He got even bigger, more scales covering his slowly healing wounds. His fire flared, heating up the area around him and causing all of Nihilus' bubbles near the flames to pop.

That was certainly new.

He roared again as more fire spun up around him before leaping for Nihilus. Probably hoping to take her out before she could make more bubbles. He was blown back towards me by a large explosion from Samael. I grabbed him and threw him into the ground, stomping on him and cracking the concrete under him. He stood up, tossing me off and fired several balls of fire towards Samael. One of them hit him, but the others missed. Samael took the hit and his chest turned red from the blow, but he wasn't seriously hurt.

"The Protectorate is almost here! 5 five minute ETA! We're gonna take off! Meet in Las Noches later!" Lisa shouted.

"Got it!" I said, appearing in front of Lung again. He swiped at me and I phased through it, round housing him in the face. Theo blew his legs out from under him and I kicked him in the face, knocking him into the air. I followed after him, hitting him as he reeled.

"Why! Won't! You! STOP?!" Each word punctuated by a powerful punch to his torso. That didn't help. It actively made it worse. He got bigger, at least thirteen or fourteen feet now and he had grown a set of steel wings that unfolded from his back.

Great.

I phased through one of his wings, slicing it off. He started falling and I peppered him with bala's as he got closer to the ground. When he was close enough I sped down and heel dropped his face into the concrete.

"Nihilus, Negative zone!"

"Right!" She said.

The feeling of being engulfed in the Negative Zone was already disorienting, but doing so in a fight was even worse. I was just glad I was immune to it's effects. And boy did it have effects for days. The most noticeable of those was screwing with your sense of gravity and making it hard to move around. But she could also use it to floor tilt like I could, negate powers, or even reverse their effects. Such as she was doing with Lung.

The Dragon of Kyushu stood up, dizzy from both the assault and the Negative Zone. I dashed at him, phase slicing through his legs and one of his arms. He roared and screamed from the pain and thrashed as his transformation reversed, his incoherent vowels becoming full on screams of rage and curses.

"That should be enough." I said.

The effects went away as the zone was dropped and it was only then that I saw members of the Protectorate standing at the end of the alleyway.

"Shit." A sighed, looking at the heroes, up in arms and ready to fight. "Nihilus, drop the bubbles." I said, knocking out Lung and putting his mask back on him.

The bubbles faded away and I picked up Lung and we started towards the heroes.

"What are we going to do?" Samael asked.

"Be cool. Don't say anything stupid and relax."

"Hero or villain?" Armsmaster asked, halberd clutched in his hands. Assault and Battery were there with Miss Militia, Dauntless, and eve Velocity. They really brought everyone out for this.

"We're just independents." I said, dropping Lung in front of them. "We heard Lung causing problems and came to see what was up. There was another group here, but they bailed towards the end."

"The Undersiders?" He asked.

"I wouldn't know." I shrugged.

"Well, you certainly did a number on him." Assault said.

"Was all this really necessary?" Miss Militia asked.

"It's Lung. If there was a better way to stop him than amputation, I don't have it. They'll grow back, right? Speaking of, we did stop his healing factor for a bit and we hurt him pretty bad, so I don't think sedatives are a good idea right now. Not that he's going anywhere." I explained.

"Names?" Armsmaster asked.

"Ah. To my right is Nihilus. On my left is Samael. I," I gave a slight theatric bow, "Go by Sacrosanct. We're The Espada."

"Espada…"

"You look like teenagers." Battery said. "You know the Wards would be the safest place for you to go. Especially after you managed to take out Lung. The rest of the ABB will be out for you and the Empire might try to get their hands on you. Especially from what we've seen of you. Capes as powerful as you seem to be don't show up often."

"I appreciate the offer, but we'll have to decline. We aren't looking for anything… formal at the moment. And I think we'll be able to hold our own for long enough."

"Well, we won't try to force you, but independents, even the strong ones, don't last too long. They usually end up dead or recruited by six months out in costume." Dauntless said.

"We'll take our chances." I said. "Nihilus, if you would?"

She drew her finger across the air and opened a portal, causing some the Protectorate heroes to cock their heads in interest.

I snapped my fingers and the alleyway went back to its original size.

Samael and Nihilus stepped through the portal and I stopped short.

"Consider Lung a gift. A token of good will, if you'd please. I'd like to avoid trouble with the protectorate for as long as possible. Enjoy the rest of your night." I say as the Descorrer snaps shut.

I let out a sigh of relief as we start back towards Las Noches.

"That fucking _sucked_!" I shout.

"I can't believe he popped my bubbles with his fire!"

"Those explosions would have killed anyone else! He just ate them like breakfast!" Shouted. "Lisa has a lot of explaining to do."

"Yeah she does."

We step into Las Noches to find Lisa and her team standing. Well, everyone except Alec is standing.

"So, mind explaining what the fuck just happened?" I asked.

"Okay, I know you're upset, but we really needed the backup. You said we'd help each other, right?" Lisa asked.

"I did, but some warning would've helped!"

"What did you even do to piss off Lung?!" Theo shouted.

"We've been hitting some of his safe houses. Stealing money, stuff like that." Grue answered. "Who are you, by the way?"

"I'm Sacrosant. That's Nihilus and he's Samael. We're the Espada. I'm guessing you're the Undersiders?"

"Yeah, I'm Grue, that's Bitch, that's Regent, and you already seem to know Tattletale. And how do you know them, Tattletale? Or, better question, how did you even get us here? Where even is this place?"

"In reverse order, we call this place Las Noches and I'm pretty sure it's a sub dimension, I got us here because I kinda got new powers and they were all here when I got them." Lisa explained.

"New powers?"

"They're… Conceptual in nature. I haven't been able to figure out much more than that. They're a real trip though. We all have pretty standard brute powers, some blaster powers, and then even more personal stuff on top of that."

"You know you really should have come to us _before_ Lung started turning. We could have played it off as having been in the area like we already did. Jumping into a fight with him is intense even when you know he can't do much to you." I sighed, flopping down into my throne.

"I wasn't expecting it to get that bad." She sighed.

"It's fucking Lung! The human dragon! It's always going to be bad! The dude took on an Endbringer! A fucking _Endbringer_!" Madison slid into her own seat.

"You know you have to tell me these types of things, Tats. If I'd known we had back up from the start this could've gone differently." Grue sighed.

"I know, but I couldn't find a good time to tell you. I don't want the boss knowing about them. Especially since they weren't supposed to make their debut like this."

"Why wouldn't you want the boss knowing?"

"Lot's of reasons. But mainly because…" She trailed off, instead making her mask appear on her face. "I don't need him knowing I have two Cape identities. The less he knows about that, the better I feel about it."

"Jesus Christ, this whole situation is just a massive cluster fuck."

"You're telling me!" Alec shouted.

"Shut up, Regent!" Lisa and Grue said in unison.

"No respect." He sighed dramatically.

"Listen." I sighed. "It's been a long night. You guys almost died. How about we go home, get some rest, and we'll meet over lunch tomorrow to talk it out. That okay with you, Grue?"

He sighed, but nodded. "Yeah, that works. Where?"

"We'll meet at a Pizza place a few miles north of Winslow High. It's on Crescent. Kinda hard to miss if you're looking for a pizza place in that area. Meet around noon. You can order the pizzas if you get there first."

"Alright. You can get us home, Tats?"

"Yeah. Come on, Regent. Time to go!"

"Finally!" Regent slipped off his throne and slinked after the rest of the Undersiders.

The portal shut behind them as they left.

"… Alec is such an asshole." Madison said.

"Yeah." I sighed.

"Tonight was intense." Theo sat in his throne, tapping his foot.

"This was a hell of a way to make a debut. I was super nervous dealing with the heroes." I melted into my seat and lit a cigarette.

"Yeah, you got all formal. It was super weird." Madison said.

"Shut up. You wouldn't have done much better."

"We'll see. Bet I do better next time we talk to them."

"I hope that's not for a long time."

"Well, this night has been absolutely ridiculous. I'm gonna go home and sleep." Theo stood up.

"Same!" Madison sighed.

"Yeah, I'd like to go to bed and relax."

"Wait, can I come to the meeting tomorrow?" She asked.

I shrugged. "Don't see why not."

"Thanks." She took off for home.

I flicked my cigarette into the void of the Garganta as I made my way to my own bed.


	15. Interlude 2.a

Meetings were the worst. Director Emily Piggot hated a lot of things about working a desk job, but meetings were definitely the worst. Especially the morning meetings. They were usually filled with bad news. It was always reports of a cape fight or the pendulum of the inevitable gang war growing ever closer. Today was no different. Lung being taken down was a mixed bag. It was good because, well, Lung was off the streets. It was a problem because without Lung the Empire was the most powerful force in the city and they would be looking to expand.

"Alright, brief me on what happened last night." Emily said. She had all the of the Protectorate heroes as well as the Wards in a conference room this morning. From what she'd heard they'd need to be on the look out as well.

"At approximately 0130 hours last night we got a call of a fight with Lung in ABB territory. By the time we got the call the fight had already been going on for several minutes. It seems the Undersiders had gotten Lungs attention and he was out looking for them. We believe they engaged lung at least fifteen minutes prior to the call. At some point another group calling themselves The Espada show up, having been drawn to the fight by Lung's usual bout of destruction. We assume they engaged Lung when he was already rather large, and indeed by the time we got there he'd grown wings and was at least fourteen feet in height. The Undersiders took off at some point before we arrived, leaving the Espada to finish the fight, which they did in spectacular fashion. The leader, Sacrosanct, sliced off Lungs legs and one of his arms by phasing through him. She then simply dropped Lung in front of us before one of the other members, Nihilus, opened a portal to allow them to leave." Armsmaster explained

Emily took a deep breath. They had at least one cape capable of taking on Lung running around the city. Lung was bad enough, but someone who could fight him on equal footing was just as bad, if not worse since it meant two capes running around that they couldn't take on without back up from at least Legend.

"What did they say about alignment?" She asked.

"The answer was rather evasive, but she said they 'Independents'."

Emily narrowed her eyes and huffed. That was a rather vague answer. They didn't want to call themselves heroes or villains, meaning they could end up on either side of the spectrum with relative ease.

"Did you give them the pitch?"

"I did, ma'am." Battery spoke up. "They looked like teenagers, so I gave them the Wards pitch. Sacrosanct wasn't having it and the others seemed to be with her on that."

"Unfortunate. Do we have a read on their powers? This Sacrosanct seems to be some sort of Striker, while Nihilus seems to be a Mover." She said.

"We believe them to be Grab-bags." Miss Militia spoke up. "We didn't see Samael use his powers but he took a fireball to the chest with little damage. Sacrosanct displayed Brute, Striker, Stranger, Shaker, Mover, and Blaster powers, while Nihilus appears to have a Shaker ability involving bubbles, though we didn't get to see what those bubbles actually do. Sacrosanct in particular displayed what looked like flight and a space manipulation ability similar to Vista's."

Emily blinked, as did most of the heroes. Vista even did a full double take. Duplicate powers weren't a thing. There were powers that accomplished the same thing in different ways, or powers that looked similar but there were no duplicate powers. Even the Alexandria package capes worked in vastly different ways. Aegis had a redundant biology and Glory Girls ability to take hits revolved around a force field. They looked like they had the same powers, but the operation was different. So for someone to show up with a power that seemed to work similar to Vista's was a surprise.

"You're sure?"

"Yes, ma'am. When we showed up the alleyway they were fighting in was as big as an auditorium. When the Espada were leaving Sacrosanct snapped her fingers and the alley went back to normal."

"She snapped it back to reality." Assault nodded.

Emily ignored that.

"Okay, so we'll need to see more of them to figure out what their powers actually are. What about their names?"

Capes had a habit of picking names that related to how their powers worked. It wasn't a rule, but it was an observable phenomenon that happened enough that you could usually get an idea of what someone's powers did based on their name. Miss Militia, Shadow Stalker, and Clockblocker were prime examples of that. As was Hookwolf. Other names took a little digging to figure out, or you had to know what their power was for it to make sense, such as Cricket, Crusader, Lung, and Battery.

"Espada means Sword in Spanish" Armsmaster started. "Their names, however, don't have a Spanish theme. Sacrosanct is a rather archaic word meaning 'Most sacred or holy, or inviolable'. So she either sees herself as some sort of messiah figure, or believes herself immune from harm. Nihilus has no real meaning, however it does seem relate to 'Ex Nihilo' which is Latin for 'from nothing'. It may also be an iteration of 'Nihilism'. Our best guess is that her powers have something to do with erasing things. Finally, Samael was the easiest to find information on. The name itself means Venom, Poison, or Blindness of God. Samael is an archangel in Talmudic mythology who is known as the accuser, seducer, and destroyer. He is often hailed as the Angel of Death."

"Jesus Christ." Emily sighed. "So either we have a bunch of religious and philosophical nuts on our hands, or their names are meant to be literal and these people's powers actually relate to their names. I'm not sure which is worse, Haven 2.0 or a group of Nukers."

Nuker wasn't actually used anymore. It was a term from the early days of the PRT, back when she had been in the field. Blaster/Shaker combinations were a common enough occurrence to warrant it's own classification, but now they were just called Ruin or Impact Blasters depending on if they did hit large areas at once or had larger, more damaging projectiles. There was a difference, but most people wouldn't care to make the distinction.

"I'd honestly prefer the Nukers. Having Haven-like zealots running around the Bay preaching whatever off kilter religion they run with would be worse." Velocity said.

"I mean, if they were into something stupid or a religion of peace, it'd be pretty cool. Imagine a group of capes following the Church of Bacon. That sounds like a religion I'd join." Clockblocker said.

"Your really think someone about peace would pick a name with the implications of an angel similar to Satan?" Gallant asked.

"This is the kid who picked the name 'Clockblocker'. What are you expecting?" Kid Win said.

"Hey!" Clockblocker said.

"That's enough." Emily snapped. "These Espada seem to be rather powerful for what he have on them. For now, assign them all with Brute ratings of around three. Tack on Blaster, Striker, Mover, Shaker, and Stranger ratings for Sacrosanct, Blaster two, Striker five, Mover four, Shaker five, and Stranger three. Give Nihilus a Shaker rating of five and a mover rating of two. That should be safe for now. We'll add or drop things as needed. Is there anything else?"

"No ma'am." Armsmaster said.

"Good. For Protectorate, I'd advise you approach them with caution when out on patrol. Give them the softest pitch you can if you can. The last thing we need is to annoy them into not wanting to even work with us. As for the Wards, do not approach them but don't turn them away if they approach you. Be friendly and courteous. Offer them to patrol with you, or accept if they ask. Try to make the Wards sound like the place they'd prefer to be rather than operating independently. You're dismissed."

She waited until everyone had left before going to her own office.

Another reason Emily really hated desk work was because she considered herself a woman of action. She'd much rather prefer to be out in the field than stuck behind a desk. But that wasn't happening any time soon. Hell, it wasn't going to happen again at all. Not after her injury in… Ellisburg. That mission had been the source of so many of her problems and got her stuck doing desk work.

Sitting behind her desk, she really wished she could drink. She couldn't shake the feeling that this new group of capes was about to start seriously shaking everything up.


	16. Forge 2.2

Dad hadn't seen fit to punish me for standing up for myself, for which I was glad because I knew there were some parents who would punish their children for getting suspended regardless of the context, so I basically had the week off. Crime was a lot lower during the day, especially because there weren't many, if any, Capes out before evening. Maybe you'd catch Hookwolf or Oni Lee out doing stuff, but most capes had stuff to do during the day. Not to say they didn't operate during the day, just that seeing a Cape out and about during the day was rare. Which was why it was better to meet with the Undersiders plain clothes during the day.

I started my run later than usual, but I still did my usual route. Since it was Monday, I stopped in to the donut shop.

"Morning Abby."

"Taylor." She nodded. "You're late today."

"I got suspended for the week."

She threw her head back in laughter and my lips pulled back into an amused grin at her reaction. Abby wasn't a cold woman, but getting a reaction like that out of her was a rare one.

"What did you do? It's not because you took my advice to heart is it?"

"Nah. Me and her are on… better terms because of it though. No, I got suspended because I got into an argument with some other girls and the principal decided everything was on me, as usual. Then I called her a liar to her face and three days became a week. She may also have been a little mad because she heard me say she only cared about the money and not her students."

Abby laughed harder this time, folding over the counter. She laughed herself out of breath and then kept laughing.

"You've got… You've got some big brass balls to do something like that!" She said through laughter. "Oh, fuck. I knew there was a reason I liked you, kid."

"Aw, you flatter me." I smirked, raising a hand to my chest in mock embarrassment.

"Yeah, yeah. What do you want? I'll throw in an extra on the house for making my morning."

"Abby, you sweet talker! I might just spend all my money here." I smirked.

"That's the idea." She smirked right back, more toothy and feral. She looked dangerous when she smiled. Made sense why so many guys were scared of her.

"Ha-ha." I said dryly. "I want a buttermilk today. Chocolate milk as always."

"So what are you planning on doing for the week?" She asked as she bagged up my order.

"Nothing really. My dad didn't punish me so I'm free for the week. Maybe sit around the library. Study for the Exit Exam."

"You're getting out early? That bad?"

"Eh, I'm just over school. Teachers suck, students suck, the work is too easy, there's no point in staying anymore. And with everything that's happened I doubt dad would refuse to let me test out. It's a little expensive, but it will be worth it in the long run."

"If you want to work, I've got a spot open here. If you can swing three a.m wake up calls, that is."

"I appreciate it." I said. I was surprised she liked me enough to offer me a job. This was the mushiest I'd ever seen her too. Abby didn't do emotional on her best days. "Later, Abby, I'll think about the offer."

"Whatever." She waved as I left.

—

I got to the pizza place fifteen minutes early only to find Lisa and Brian already there. Lisa waved while Brian stared at me, wide eyed. I had no idea why he was surprised.

"I hope you didn't order pineapple." I said as I sit down.

Brian got a defensive look on his face while Lisa scrunched her nose at the idea.

"Gross." She said.

"There's nothing wrong with pineapple on pizza." Brian argued.

"As good as the pizza here is, they just put canned pineapple slices on pizza. Like, whole circles, not chunks. If it was grilled or baked into the pizza, or both, it'd be a different story, but it's none of those things."

Now Brian looked disgusted.

"What kind of hellhole have you brought me to?"

"I promise everything else is good." I raised my hands in surrender.

"She really does like the place, Brian. She wouldn't bring us to a place she didn't like to eat. Thinks it's rude." Lisa supplied.

"It is rude. Why would you take people out to eat and pick a restaurant with trash food? That's not what you do to people you're trying to have a civil conversation with."

"Aright. Let's get started then."

"Hold on." I said.

"We're waiting on one of the others." Lisa said. "Nihilus, right?"

"Yeah. She wanted to be here. I'd also like to talk over food."

"Is she the one Lisa said not to hurt too bad?" Brian asked.

"Yeah." I nodded.

"You didn't even take that advice. And it turned out to not be her in the end." Lisa rolled her eyes. "You didn't even apologize. You probably should. I'm sure she'd appreciate it, even if she didn't really mind it."

"I'm missing some context here." Brian said.

"She used to help bully me pretty bad." I started. "Now she's trying to… Make it up to me I guess. Be a better person. But she helped do a lot of really fucked up shit to me and I'm not the most trusting person anymore, so while I'm willing to be civil, she's on thin ice. The other bullies knew something they shouldn't have and I thought she told them. Turns out we were overheard. I kicked her ass pretty bad before she told me who actually did it."

"How fucked up are we talking?"

"She should and would have triggered from it if not for whatever we have now." Lisa explained.

"Jesus." He scowled. "And you're working with this chick?"

I shrugged. "As much as I dislike her, I'm willing to give her a chance to be better. My hatred isn't quite that deep. And kicking the shit out of her for training every day helps."

Brian laughed. "Yeah, I can definitely see that. It takes a big heart to give someone like that a chance, let alone work with them in something like this."

"Or a lot of apathy." Lisa said.

The door rang and Madison ran over to our table.

"I'm not late, right?" She panted.

"Right on time, actually." Lisa held up her watch reading 12:00 pm.

"Why are you out of breath?" I asked.

"Ran from class… Ran to hiding spot… Sonido here… Not good at it yet…" She said, catching her breath.

"You should start exercising."

"Yeah… I'll do that."

The Pizza's came out only a minute later.

"Good timing." Brian said, grabbing some slices. "So let's talk shop."

"You nerd. Who even says that?" Lisa snarked.

"I do. So let's talk. What were the details of the deal you made with Lisa?"

"Nothing formal. Just that if you guys were in trouble we'd help out and vice versa. Of course we want to keep the illusion that we aren't working together, so nothing explicit, but things like what happened last night are okay." I explained.

Brian nodded. "That's it? Nothing more to it?"

"Not really. Nothing big is going on for us right now. Eventually we'd like to fold you guys in. Most likely under Lisa, but that's not for a while. Like, a long time."

"Fold us in? Like a merger?"

"Yep. While we're not explicitly good, we aren't explicitly bad either. The hope is to, at one point down the line, take control like the current players, except it's all us. I'd like to avoid hostilities with the good guys for as long as possible."

"You're crazy." Brian shook his head. "How would you even go about doing that? Do you realize what you're up against?"

"I do. The fact of the matter is that last night wasn't much of a sweat. It was intense, because the fucker is hard to take down, but it was doable with just the three of us, and I'm the only one good enough to risk going toe to toe with him. Once everyone else catches up you have up to seven of us, all strong enough to take him on when he gets big. The rest of the groups don't mean anything. It's just a matter of avoiding a war if possible."

"You're not joking, are you? This is crazy. You really think you can pull this off?"

"I do. Given enough time and information all things are possible. It just so happens we have the power to back us up as well. Recruiting people under us just solidifies a base. Makes it easier to maintain control. The goal is to oust the old regime and take over so no one else can move in. Call it… a play at feudalism. Consolidating all of the cities power under one flag will help not only keep others from moving in and taking over where the old regime left off, but it allows us to decide how we want things run."

"I…" He trailed off, brows furrowing as he thought it through.

"Take a minute. We'll go smoke while you think it over." I tapped Madison and she followed me out the door.

I leaned back against the wall and pulled a black box and Madison looked at it for a long time, lighter stopped just an inch from lighting her own.

"Black Devil." I drawled, pulling one from the box. She blinked, lit hers, then offered her lighter. I nodded, letting her light it.

"I didn't realize the paper on them was black too."

"They're basically Goth cigarettes, everything on them is black but the accent colors."

"They smell nice."

"I don't know what the special flavor actually is, but I like it well enough."

Neither of us spoke again for a moment. The sounds of cars and the gentle wind being the only noise.

"Did you mean what you said?" Madison asked after a while. "About what our plans our? I thought it would just be us…"

"Even if all seven of us work together, it's unrealistic to expect us to hold a city without support. We need people, powered and not, to make this work."

"You weren't lying then." She paused for a moment, before looking up at me. "Why didn't you? If you told him something different he'd be more likely to join us."

"The first reason is we don't have the resources to do that." I explain lazily, my eye catching a group of birds flying over head. "We can't make large promises because we're not in a place to deliver on them. The second reason is lying to people you'd like to work with you long term about your long term goals is a bad idea. At some point they'll realize you have no intention of following through and either leave or try to kill you. Either way you lose something. I'd like to work with them long term. And I mean long term as in for as long as possible. I don't need them jumping ship at any point because they realize our goals don't line up."

"You don't want to manipulate them." It was a statement, but she said it like a question.

"Yes, but you're missing the point. I want them to know what I want up front and make their choice now instead of realizing I lied to them and having to jump ship or ruin everything. If you want to get something done short term, lying can be a good way to do it. Convince them you can give them what they want so they do what you need done, even if you have no intention of following through."

She grimaced. "I don't understand. That's the exact opposite of what you just said?"

I took a long drag and shook my head.

"The difference is time frame. Hell, lying about your intentions can work long term, but only for as long as the person believes you intend to give them what you promised. It's about knowing what you plan to do and knowing how long you need something for. If we were working with, say, the Merchants on this, I'd sell them every lie in the book for as long as they were useful to me. Because they're expendable. They aren't the kind of people you want to work with long term."

"But Lisa and Brian are." She said slowly, still sounding unsure.

"Exactly. Let me give you a hypothetical. Two guys meet in a bar one night and start talking over drinks. Both have servants. The first guys servant brings him drink and food when he orders. He ruthlessly beats and berates her for any mistake she makes and sometimes just for fun. The seconds guys servant is an assassin who wants to kill his master because he's responsible for killing the assassins family years ago. One of these servants kills their master in the night. Which do you think it is?"

"The assassin." She said without thinking.

"And why do you think that?"

"He's a killer with motive."

"You're wrong."

"Huh? Why?" She asked, confused.

"We were talking about manipulation. The guy was traveling with someone he knew wanted to kill him and he was okay with that. Why?"

"Because he's dumb?" She put a hand out like she was explaining the obvious. I rolled my eyes.

"Madison." I said forcefully. "Look at the bigger picture. How were the men controlling their servants?"

"The first guy was using fear right? Beating into her that mistakes mean pain. The second guy… I don't know."

"If he was traveling with the man who killed his family, that means…" I trailed off to give her a chance to answer.

"He must have promised him something." She said, finally starting to get it.

"Right. The assassin has traveled with his family's killer for so long because he was promised something he wants while the other servant was being controlled through fear. And that's why she killed him. Fear only works for so long. But if you promise someone something, in this case a chance to kill his family's killer in a fight—."

"You have that person working for you for as long as they think you'll honor your promise." She snapped, a light bulb going off in her head.

"Exactly. In this case the man has a servant until he loses or the servant dies. Manipulation is about intent. Making someone believe you you'll do one thing even if you don't plan on following through with it. What I'm doing with them is not manipulation because I'd like to work with them. If it were people I didn't want to work with, then it would be manipulation."

"Huh. That's really interesting. How do you know that?"

I looked off to the side, staring at some of the signs before I answered. "I've skipped a lot of school since 9th grade started. About sixty days I think, not including leaving early. I spent a lot of time at the library. At some point I picked up some psychology books to try to mitigate the damage Emma did to me." I blew a puff of smoke. "Fat lotta good that did. But I learned some interesting things about psychology."

"Did you ever use it to figure out why Emma started bullying you?" She asked lowly.

I sighed. "I don't know what made her change so much, but it's mostly empty. There's no real enmity behind it from what I can tell. It's not really that she hates me, she just seems to enjoy it. She definitely gets something out of it, but I don't know what, exactly."

"And Sophia?"

"She just likes hurting other people."

"And… Me?"

"Funny enough," I laughed, "I was never able to figure you out. It was always fourth grade school yard stuff with you and there was never really any emotion I could figure out behind it. I never would have guessed you did it to fit in. I'm not that good at figuring people out, I just know Emma well enough to get an idea of her and Sophia is more transparent than glass. The others I can see now, knowing social status is a part of it. I don't think that way, so it never would have crossed my mind otherwise."

She was silent at that. I looked inside to see Lisa and Brian still talking.

"We've still got a but of time." I said, tossing my butt into the trash. "Let's do another. You've been locked in a dungeon. You're there for a month before you get the chance to escape. You can get out on your own, but you don't know the way and could get caught again and maybe killed. The person in the cell next to you is someone you hate. You have a grudge against them for something they did in the past. You know they know a good way out but they hate you just as much. How do you get them to show you the way when you get your escape opportunity?"

"Threaten them?" She asked.

"They tell the guards. You're dead now. Try something else."

She hummed, thinking it over.

"Tell them… I know a way to get us both out if they work with me. Tell them we can go our separate ways after and I'll drop the grudge."

"Good. Now, do you actually drop the grudge?"

She thought longer about that one.

"No?"

"Why not?"

"Because if they hate me too then they might kill me when we get out or the first chance that's easy. So I stay on guard."

"Okay. What else? You get out. Now what?"

"Leave."

"You get stabbed from behind."

"Oh come on!" She stood off the wall. "Are you trying to teach me to hold grudges?"

"No. I'm trying to reinforce it's about intentions. You can say whatever you want as long as they believe you'll follow through. If you actually follow through than it's not really manipulation is it?"

"… I guess not." She looked down before leaning against the wall again.

"It's not. Manipulation, by definition, is underhanded and furthers your goals at the expense of others. You can follow through with little things to keep them under you longer, but eventually something has to give. That's the nature of manipulating someone and why I'm being upfront with Brian. I don't want to them to be disposable pawns in some bigger game. I want them to work with us towards a goal that should ultimately help to better the city."

She didn't speak again, scrunching her face and thinking hard about what I said. I checked inside again and saw Lisa nod. I flicked Madison in the forehead.

"Ow…" She whined, rubbing the spot.

"Think later. We're going back in."

We sat down at our table in the back of the little restaurant and I grabbed more pizza.

"I've thought it over. Lisa thinks you can do this, and I trust her. So for now we'll support each other when needed and when the time comes we'll come in under Lisa. She says you'll keep everything smooth sailing after you help her out with a personal project, and I believe her. So," He put his hand out, "I believe we're in business."

I smiled wider than I should have as I took his hand.

"Pleasure to have you on board. When we're done here I need your help, Lisa. General information."

"Yeah, got it. Meet in Las Noches?"

"Yeah."

We finished lunch, each of us taking a few slices home because they ordered too much, and split up. Madison ended up coming with me while I put my food up though I didn't let her in my house. Then we took off for Las Noches.

We arrived to once again find Lisa and Brian already there.

"Took you long enough." Lisa joked.

"Had to swing by the house to drop my food off."

"Right, so you wanted info on gang territories. Easy enough. You have some markers or something?"

"I do." Madison offered.

"Great." Lisa took them as I rolled out the map. "So based on what everyone knows, gang territories end here and here." She marked the area the ABB controlled area in green and Empire territory in red. But really, it's more like this." She extended the lines a little into the surrounding areas. The ABB controlled part of the Trainyard and a few miles into the South Docks while Empire controlled a little of the Coast, a sliver of the South Docks, and parts of the Commerce District. "Coil is the one who controls the Commerce District for the most part and his people are usually getting caught up fighting Empire for territory in Downtown."

"I was hoping to start in the South Docks and expand from there. It still seems doable, but we'll have points of contention on the border. And since we don't have general members like the others we'll be limited to mostly vigilantism for now. We can control territory just from power, but that's looking…" I trailed off, thinking about my options. Starting in the South Docks or the Trainyard was probably our best bet. Lung was out of the picture for now and Oni Lee springing him from Protectorate custody alone was unlikely. Especially since Lung wasn't likely to have his legs back yet.

"With just the three of you it could work. Samael has other stuff so he won't be joining as often. Sonido means you can get around quicker than most flyers, and you could easily win a three on one fight with the Empire. Oni Lee is nothing to worry about, so it's basically keeping Empire from expanding at this point. Capture Oni Lee, split the entirety of the Docks between the three of you, and you only have to worry about Empire. Coil won't be coming after you for a while and I doubt he could pick up much information with the way you operate."

"What do you know about Coil's M.O?" I asked.

She glanced at Brian, who was looking at the map with his own plans, and shook her head enough most people wouldn't tell.

"I don't know much besides he has a bunch of mercenaries with tinkertech. He's a shady guy and slippery enough no one's ever seen him and most people don't even think he has a power."

"Annoying, but I guess we'll come to him when he becomes a problem. The ABB is pretty weak without Lung meaning our main priority will be Empire. You know how they operate?"

"I do. Kaiser is the kind of guy who leads or else. He can be amicable but only if it's on his terms. The Empire is split into a few factions each run by Hookwolf and Krieg. Hookwolf runs fighting rings, both dog and human. Krieg is a bit more secretive but he's generally the one Kaiser calls when Hookwolf would be too heavy handed."

"What about Purity?" Madison asked.

"Purity is still active in the city, still going after the ABB, but she hasn't been seen with any of the Empire in a little over a year or so. Night and Fog also haven't been seen either. She might have left, but I'd need more info on her to know for sure."

"I'll ask Samael later." I said absently.

"Why would he know?" Brian asked.

"Oh shit!" Lisa half shouted. "You're not kidding! That's a huge in to the Empire! It would be super easy to tear them down in that case!"

"What?"

"Samael is Kaiser's kid." I sighed. Brian froze, then started to say something before Lisa cut him off.

"No, no, it's okay. He hates his dad and everything the Empire stands for. You're good. I mean, if he really ran with them he wouldn't have picked a Jewish name. With Samael's help we could probably start grinding down the Empire sooner rather than later!"

"I'll have to talk to him. To make sure. I trust you, Lise, but I have to be sure about this." He said sternly.

"I know. I got it."

"Good."

"You guys hit gang safe houses right? That's what got you into with Lung? How much of a cut would you want for passing some to us?" I asked.

"Twenty five." Brian said.

"That's lower than I was expecting. Deal." I reached out and we shook on it.

"You're not going to negotiate that?" Lisa asked.

"Nah. I was expecting half. If we hear about any new safe houses we'll pass a few your way if you don't already know about them."

"Fair enough." Brian shrugged.

"Now, what do you guys do with weapons? You take the cash and leave the guns?"

"Pretty much. Anything liquid we find we take and stuff that we'd need a dealer for we leave unless the boss is specifically looking for something." Lisa explained.

"Makes sense. We'll probably just bowl the place over and take what we can get. It'll be easy for me to case places once I know where they are, so getting in and out will be easy."

"Because of your isolation thing, right? How does that work?"

"Isolation?" Brian asked.

"I can slip in and out of… Let's call it the regular plane of existence. Everything looks the same, except I can move through walls and things like that. I can even check to see if I'm the area I plan to come back is being watched before I come back. It's essentially an empty version of the world where everything looks the exact same. If someone moves something in reality, I won't be able to see it in the Isolation world, but if they put it back down I will."

"That's like, the ultimate Stranger power. That basically makes you the go to for in and out jobs. Can you take people with you?" Brian asked.

"Yeah." Madison answered, looking up from the map. "We train on the roof every lunch and no one knows we're there because of that power."

"Holy shit. That's the ultimate get away ability. And we can call on you for risky jobs?" I could see the plans forming in his eyes. Having me help would open up a larger range of options.

"Sure, long as no one will be able to put us together." I shrug.

"I generate darkness. If I flood an area and meet you at a designated spot no one would know."

"Sounds like a plan. Do I get a cut?"

"Yeah. Say… Five percent?"

"I want fifteen." I said flatly.

"Eight." He countered.

I hummed, pretending to think it over and ignoring the smirk on Lisa's face. She knew exactly how much I wanted and was more amused by the haggling than anything else.

"Twelve." I tried to make my voice demanding. Like that was my final offer.

"Ten, that's final." Brian said. And just like that I'd won.

"Deal."

I ignored Lisa holding back laughter as we shook on another deal. I was glad I wasn't negotiating with her. The sly smile on her face told me she'd have convinced me to buy Volcano insurance or something.

"That was the most cliche negotiation I've ever seen." Madison said.

"It worked though." Lisa shrugged. "So, you have a game plan?"

"Kinda." I shrugged. "I don't want to jump into taking over the ABB territory but I also want to keep Empire out of there long enough for us to viably control it without seeming like we took out Lung specifically for that purpose. We'll start patrolling the South Docks tonight, maybe get some presence on the borders. I'll call Samael and see if he can come. Are you in Madison?"

"Yeah. I'll tell mom I'll be with you for a few hours after school."

"Alright. I think that's everything then."

"Almost. We need to get you a cell phone." Lisa said.

My sigh was almost theater worthy.


	17. Interlude 2.b

If you asked Amelia Dallon how she felt on any given day, the answer would be "Old". She felt like she had too much to do and not enough time. She felt overwhelmed by it all. Like she was on a sinking ship and she was the only one who realized it. She went to school like any normal teenage girl, she spent time with… Her sisters friends. During lunch. Then she spent a few hours volunteering at the hospital every day. Not long, maybe two to three hours. Then she'd head home, have dinner with her family, mostly her sister, then she'd go to bed.

Except she spent so much of the day wracked by guilt that she could be doing more to help people. She felt like everyone was expecting her to spend all her time healing people and the weight was crushing her. She had an adoptive mother who was neglectful and cold to her, a clinically depressed father who could barely bring himself to get out of bed and sit in front of the TV all day, and a sister who was far too excitable for her tastes but who she loved anyway. More than she should. Which was another thing for her to fret over.

And when she started to fret so much she couldn't sleep, she'd go back to the hospital. Heal people well into the night or early morning. Because it was the only way to distract herself from the gnawing sense of guilt and loneliness that had built up inside her.

Right now, though, she was focused on something, so these thoughts weren't quite so close to the front of her mind. A woman, Andrea Young, had been beaten nearly to death in a nearby alleyway. There didn't seem to be any reason for it. She still had her wallet, full of money, and nothing else of value was taken. A watch that didn't look very expensive, thin gold necklace, wedding ring, earrings, all of them were still there. The woman hadn't been involved in any crime. The only gang in the city that would employ black people were the Merchants and she wasn't drugged up. No signs of any past drug use at all.

Which meant it was racially motivated. It made sense. They were on the border of Downtown and the south side of the Docks. Empire had a high presence on that border. Probably to try to fortify their territories border with the ABB without looking like they were prepping for war. She didn't know why they tried. Just last week she'd ended up working over time at the hospital because of a fight between the gangs. They were headed toward another gang war and anyone who couldn't see that was blind.

"I'm all done." Amy said, finishing her work on the woman. She'd still be taken to the hospital and they take her testimony to help file the police report. The woman was thanking her, but she didn't really hear her. She'd started to drown those things out. Started resenting her patients.

Her phone rang.

"Hey sis?" Vicky answered before she could speak. That was never a good sign.

"You find him?" Amy asked patiently, hoping she was wrong.

"Yeah, I found him. That's kind of the problem." Vicky always sounded like she got caught with her hand in the cookie jar when she did this.

"You hurt him didn't you?" She asked flatly.

"Yeah. Look I'm sorr—."

"You always do this, Victoria! You really need—."

"I know. Can we talk about this later? I'm on Spayder and Rock, on this little road behind the buildings."

Amy hung up, walking towards her sister. She was moving at a light jog to make it quickly. Hopefully it was something she could actually fix. She eventually rounded a corner and saw a dumpster lying on its side outside an alleyway. She took a deep breath and let it out a more forcefully than was necessary. She turned the corner ready to yell at her sister.

" _Again_ , Victoria?!"

"Use my codename, please." Vicky said. Amy glared at her. Vicky was floating a few inches above the ground, making her seem taller than she really was. She never meant anything by it, like a lot of the conspiracy theorists seemed to think, she just liked flying. Vicky might think highly of herself, but she didn't see herself as grander than life like a lot of the people who loved her did.

"Our identities are public." Amy said.

"It's the principle of the thing."

"You want to talk about _principles_ Glory Girl?" Amy's voice dripped sarcasm, "This is the sixth time you've nearly killed someone! _Sixth_! You'd be looking at jail time by not if not for me!"

"I can lift an SUV over my head! It's kind of hard to hold back." Vicky argued, floating closer.

"I'm sure Carol would believe that line." Amy scoffed. "I know you better than anyone. If you can't control yourself, the problem isn't here," She poked her sisters bicep, "It's here." She jabbed her finger into her sisters forehead, hard. She didn't blink at the offending digit in her face.

"Can you just fix him?" Vicky pleaded. It wasn't desperate, but the tone of someone who asked and expected it to be done.

"I'm thinking I shouldn't." Amy crossed her arms.

"What?"

"There's consequences, Vicky. I think we should call the paramedics. The hospital should be able to help him fine."

"Hey, that's not funny!" Vicky floated over to her sister. "If he goes to the hospital people will start asking questions."

"I'm aware." Amy's tone was dismissive.

"This isn't just me getting grounded, Ames. I could end up in court, in jail. That doesn't just fuck with me. That fucks with the whole family. It fucks with New Wave and everything we've tried to build. You'd really do that to me? To us?"

Amy looked to the downed man. Her eyes narrowed slightly. She loved her sister. Truly she did. But this was getting out of hand. She was tired of having to clean up her messes just because she couldn't be bothered to learn some self control.

"It's not my fault we're at this point, Vicky. You're the one going to far, doing exactly what people were afraid of when New Wave become a thing. We're not regulated like the Wards or Protectorate. Everyone knows who we are out of costume. We have to be accountable for our actions. That's what New Wave was about in the first place right? The responsible thing for me to do would be to call the paramedics and let you deal with the fall out and hope you learn your lesson."

She was suddenly pulled into a hug. She struggled for a moment, but gave up after long enough. The effort would be wasted.

"This isn't just a team, Ames." Vicky said softly. "We're a family. We're _your_ family."

Amy started to speak, but they heard a voice from above them.

"How manipulative." A warbled voice said. The looked up to see what looked to be a girl in a white shirt and jacket and black pants sitting on the ceiling above them. She appeared at the end of the alley way and they got a look at her eyes. Golden irises and black sclera behind a bone white wolf mask. The eyes were lazy but aware. Like someone who'd spent time in the military and stopped caring but couldn't shake training. She was also tall. She seemed like a college student, if not older.

"It's funny because I was just having a conversation on manipulation earlier today." She said.

"I am _not_ manipulating my sister."

"From what I've seen," A new warbled voice said, "It sure looked like it." Just behind the girl in the wolf mask appeared another in a blank white mask. Same colored eyes, though more nervous looking. She was dressed in a long white dress with black lines across the chest. She was significantly shorter. Possibly high school from her build.

"I won't interfere in whatever family business you have." Wolf mask said. "But I'm interested in what happened to this guy." She tapped the downed Empire goon with her foot.

"It's none of your business." Vicky let her go and floated between her and the new appearances.

"I'm going to guess you threw that dumpster at the guy? That's real irresponsible."

"What's it to you?"

"Eh?" She shrugged. "Nihilus and I were just out on patrol and saw something off. Came to check it out. Didn't expect to meet Glory Girl and Panacea, though."

"It really was a surprise. I didn't think you came out this far." The now named Nihilus said.

"Patrol? You guys are heroes?" Vicky asked.

"Something like that. Just started out." The first one said. "I'm Sacrosanct. I've already told you Nihilus' name."

"Your names sound pretty villainous."

"It happens sometimes." She shrugged. "But we really are trying to help. So, what happened to him?"

"He's Empire. Beat up a woman for no reason other than she was black. I tracked him here, he tried to limp away from me, and I kicked the dumpster, not meaning to hit him."

"Wow." Nihilus said.

"Wow, indeed." Sacrosanct drawled lazily.

"We might be able to get some info out of him."

"What for? There are other people we could ask that probably know more."

"He probably knows enough. And his version might give us an idea of what to expect soon."

"Fair enough" She sighed before turning to Vicky. "Well, I can fix him up. Though you should probably stop kicking large hunks of metal at normals." Sacrosanct said. She snapped her fingers and the dumpster was back down the ally with the trash inside. The Nazi was standing up, looking around confused before being slammed into the wall by Nihilus. Her nails were painted black, Amy noted idly.

"What the fuck is this?" he shouted.

"Hello. Hope you enjoyed your nap." Sacrosanct said.

"Fuck you."

"You aren't my type."

"Bitch."

"We just want to ask some questions." Nihilus said.

"Fuck you too."

"Is that a threat or a promise?"

"What?"

"Hey!" Vicky shouted, drawing all eyes to her. "What the hell just happened?!" She gestured wildly to the ally.

"Don't worry about it. You can help interrogate him if you want. You did catch him after all." Sacrosanct said.

Hearing her speak more, Amy was starting to get a better feel for her personality. At least in her cape ID. She was straightforward and to the point, but not opposed to joking. She came off as lazy, but it was the kind of lazy that commanded power. Nihilus seemed like the playful type, but she'd have to speak more to know for sure.

"You know what? No. You go ahead. He sure wasn't listening to me." Vicky pouted.

"Suit yourself."

"Now, where were we? Oh, right, you said something about a date?" Nihilus asked playfully.

Definitely the playful type.

"Yeah, I was telling you to suck my dick!" The Nazi shouted, trying to struggle from the shorter girls apparently powerful grip.

"Oh, I don't think you want that. I'm a biter." She said, her teeth audibly clicking. The guys eyes went wide and he struggled harder. "So here's the deal, you tell us what we want to know, and I'll let you go."

"Or you can struggle some more and I can show you what your bones look like." Sacrosanct finished.

"You wouldn't—." The man froze as the arm holding onto Nihilus suddenly went limp. "W-what the fuck?" His voice was high and startled.

"You looking for these?" Sacrosanct asked, twirling the mans Ulna and Radius in her hands.

Amy covered her mouth in shock and disgust. She couldn't see Vicky's face, but the girl was obviously shocked considering that she was now firmly planted on the ground. The the mans arm was fixed like nothing happened.

"What the fuck?!" His voice was higher now, the fear having fully kicked in.

"So, you willing to answer?"

"Yeah, please, anything you want, just don't do that again!"

"When you tell us what we want to know." Nihilus said.

"What do you want to know?" He was frantic, panicked. He spoke fast, trying to get through his speech so he could get away.

"What are the Empire planning?"

"With Lung gone, we're moving to take the Docks. Guy named Coil keeps fighting us for territory."

"I'm familiar." Sacrosanct drawled.

"Yeah. So we're going to take the Docks while they're free. It's prime area. Shops already used to paying protection money. We're trying to get in quick to avoid a war. Uber and Leet, the Undersiders, the Merchants, Coil, all the villains in the city are gonna be lookin' for turf there. It could be a war."

"Good boy." Nihilus teased, letting him go.

The man stood still for a few seconds, staring at them, before limping off down the ally. When he turned the corner, Sacrosanct looked at Vicky.

"Why are you just standing there?! Go grab him!"

Vicky seemed to snap back and flew off after the crook. They heard him curse a few seconds later as Vicky grabbed him. The two talked silently for a few seconds before Nihilus turned towards the mouth of the ally and Sacrosanct walked towards Amy.

"I heard a lot of that conversation." She started.

"It's nothing." Amy said defensively.

"Like I said earlier, I'm not going to come between you and your family, but you shouldn't let them manipulate you like that."

"She wasn't manipulating me." Amy snapped, but it was hollow. No real force behind it.

"Whatever you want to call it, she was trying to get you to do something you didn't want to because the consequences of what she did were too much for her. Love your family as much or as little as you think they deserve, but sometimes being harsh is the only way to make things better." She paused, eyes narrowing as she looked to the ground. "Trust me on that, at least." She turned towards her partner. "We're leaving, Nihilus."

Amy blinked and they were gone.

"Where'd they go?" Vicky asked, turning the corner into the ally.

"They just left. Don't know how. Think they might be able to teleport." She said dully.

"Would explain that weird thing with the bones." Vicky shivered. "If she can teleport things in and out of people, I'm glad she seems like she's on our side."

"Let's get home, Vicky."

"Glory Girl."

"Let's just go." Amy rolled her eyes.

Try as she might, Amy couldn't shake the look in Sacrosanct's eyes when she gave her advice. She looked tired. Like she was going through her own family troubles she kept putting off dealing with. She knew her family wasn't the best, but she was glad to have her sister at least. Getting blamed for New Wave catching a case… She didn't want that. But she was tired of cleaning up after her sister because she wouldn't learn restraint. At the end of the day, it was just another problem on for the pile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The manipulation bit was actually coincidental. I was trying to get a better read on Amy's personality and reread Vicky's interlude and it came off manipulative.


	18. Omake: Slaughteredhouse Nine

Jack Slash and his merry band of Murder Hobos looked down at the city of Brockton Bay with their usual sense of sadistic glee. Jack, unlike the company he kept, liked to find meaning in his killing. He considered himself an artist. Jackson Pollock and a hundred barrels of paint couldn't create what he could with a few people and his straight razor. He liked to think his senseless slaughter was more than just mindless fun, but a statement on the way of the world.

As if!

Jack laughed to himself at his thoughts. He didn't need to find meaning in killing because there was no meaning in it. It was just the feeling of satisfaction he got watching his prey run or beg for their lives only to be sliced down seconds later. That was all there was. The enjoyment of watching others suffer. The satisfaction of tearing things apart and leaving the devastated masses to deal with the aftermath. Which was why they'd come to Brockton Bay in the first place. They liked to target the aftermath of Endbringer attacks just to make things that much worse for the people there. To take the hopeless and squeeze out the little bits of hope they didn't know they had left.

But there was more to it this time. Something, rather a group of someones, had piqued Jack's interest. He had heard bits of them as they took down Lung and clashed with the Empire, but that was normal. Things like that were expected in a place like Brockton Bay. But then the showing they had during the Leviathan attack! Truly they were a force he wanted to toy with.

Yes, the Espada would be a fine group to play with. To test and twist and break until they joined the Nine or died.

"You've got your targets ladies and gentlemen! Kill and maim to your hearts content! Just remember to have fun!"

He watched as his compatriots took off for the city. They'd keep it quiet at first, talk with their prey to set the rules of the game, then they'd get to the real fun.

—

Despite how large a city Brockton Bay was, the Espada were apparently very easy to find. All you had to do was show up in the area they claimed and start making trouble. Or just be there if they thought you were the type to cause trouble. So it should be no surprise that Jack ran into them very quickly. Walking down an alleyway with Bonesaw and Shatterbird to scout places to set up traps and people to kill for fun they were almost surprised to see the world go black. When it cleared up Jack was smiling wide at the people who were in front of him. Nihilus was sitting on the edge of a fire escape, kicking her legs childishly. Samael stood on a wall as if gravity had no effect on him. Sacrosant stood in mid air in the center of the alley while the others and their subordinates watched from the fire escapes and rooftops above.

"Jack Slash." Sacrosanct warbled. He felt a chill run down his spine in excitement.

"Ah, Sacrosanct. It truly is an honor to meet the Espada." He bowed theatrically.

"Shame I can't say the same." She drawled lazily.

Well that wouldn't do. People usually reacted to their presence with fear. But they were completely undisturbed by them. As if they didn't matter.

"Most people feel the same." Jack smiled. "Well, the ones we aren't killing that is. They're usually running in fear or shaking in their boots."

"I'd like to knock Shatterbirds boots." One of the voices from the rooftop spoke. That was Rhapsody, the boy was apparently rather hedonistic.

"How dare—."

"Calm down, please Shatterbird. We're just here to talk after all." He turned back to Sacrosanct. "To establish the rules of the game."

"Right." Sacrosanct rolled her eyes before landing and walking towards them. "Listen, it's been a rough few weeks, and I really don't feel like dealing with you. So how about this: I'll pay you a hundred dollars to fuck off out of my city."

Jack actually did a double take at the offer.

"Language!" Bonesaw shouted. "Young ladies are not supposed to speak like that."

"Excuse you?" Jack asked, a feeling of frustration boiling somewhere inside.

"You heard me. A hundred bucks, each, to fuck off out of the Bay. I've got more important things to deal with than a band of super powered murder hobos."

"You… You think you can bribe me? Me?! You think you can bribe the Slaughterhouse Nine out of this city?!" Jack asked, his offense clear in his tone. "No. No, no, no. You can't get rid of us that easily. And just for the audacity of trying, we're going to change the rules. You—."

"That's unfortunate. I was hoping you'd save us the trouble of killing you all. Nihilus."

Bubbles started to float into the alleyway on command. Jack went for his knife and Shatterbird started to use her powers while Bonesaw called in one of her creations.

There were two loud pops, one from Jacks left and the other behind him. He looked to where Shatterbird had been to find her body thumping to the ground, her head gone and no remains of it as if it hadn't been there. He could only assume Bonesaw's little monster had met the same fate.

"You should run, Jack." Sacrosanct said lazily.

—

"Go, go, go, drive, drive, drive!" Jack shouted as he tossed himself into the groups mobile home, just barely avoiding one of Mannequin's claws being lobbed at him from well over half a mile away. Cherish hit the gas, speeding off as fast as the vehicle would move, swerving to avoid colored blasts that could easily rip through the metal of the van.

Jack collapsed into the couch, his breathing heavy and his body tired.

"Those fuckers are crazy!" He shouted after taking a second to regain himself.

Maybe he really should go into art.


	19. Forge 2.3

"Are you high?"

Those were the first words out of my mouth following a very long silence after Lisa had explained to me what the Undersiders were planning. She'd met me in Las Noches while I was eating, correctly assuming I'd be there, and asked me for help on a big job. A bank robbery. They just barely escaped being killed by Lung because of they'd come to get us and now they were planning a bank robbery. I understood Coil wanted them to gain some notoriety, but there was a line. The least they could do was wait a week. At least she wasn't asking the day before.

"Taylor—." Lisa started. I cut her off, not wanting to give her the chance to try to convince me on this.

"No, seriously, did you hit your head? Do you have brain damage? Are you well? To seriously be considering this so soon after getting torched by Lung is just crazy."

She scrunched up her face. I could tell I pissed her off, but she sighed and shook her head.

"I know it's risky, but it's a lot of money. We're getting matched what we lift from the bank. You getting ten percent of that would be a lot of money. All you have to do is get us out of there."

"Why don't you just open a Descorrer and leave that way? Block out the camera's, open a portal, you're back here in no time, no fuss, no mess." I offered like it was the most obvious answer.

"One is because Circus is gonna be with us." Right. Couldn't have Circus knowing about that if they were employed by Coil. I'd probably threaten them to keep it from Coil since I didn't want him thinking he had me in his pocket or anything. "Two is because we're not there to be efficient. We're a distraction. Coil specifically picked a day when all the Protectorate heroes would be gone and we'd only have to deal with the Wards. I don't know what he's doing, but he wants us to make a big enough fuss to get them on our case instead of his. Why else would we be robbing the biggest bank in the city in the middle of the day?"

"That's…" I stopped to think it over, tilting my head to the side. That made more sense. "You don't know what he's after?"

"No. He stole some tinkertech from the E-Eighty-Eight last week. Apparently Gesellschaft got a Tinker and sent Kaiser some tech. Coil heard about it and took it. It's probably why the Empire is planning to speed up their push into the Docks. Other than another shipment of that stuff, I don't see what he'd be after or why he'd send us on such a high risk job just for some tinkertech. He's already buying from Toybox. Unless the Gesellschaft stuff was just that good."

I hummed while I thought that over. Sending them to rob Brockton Central in the middle of the day meant whatever he was doing was high profile. Doing so when all the adult heroes were gone meant he really wanted this to succeed. I took a bite of my sandwich partly to stall for more time to think. I didn't know enough about Coil to know what he could be after. He was paranoid by nature and overly cautious. Unless he was making a major move for territory or was dealing with someone particularly shady, I couldn't think of what he was after.

"You should know better than anyone money isn't that big a motivator for me."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but you still need it right?"

"We do." I sighed. The extra money from jobs would be a big help if I could pretend it was a gift or something.

"So just take it. Help us out and you're making an easy three or four kay at least off of what, ten, maybe fifteen minutes of work? If that. It'll be easy for you. And you won't have to worry about me spending too much on you the next time we go shopping."

I groaned at that, but she only smiled.

"And what would my part in the plan be?" I asked. She smirked, knowing I was at least a little interested.

"Just the getaway. I'm not expecting more than a four or five of the Wards to show up since they should be in school around that time."

"If they show up, and you never come out, how long do you think they'll wait before storming in?"

Her face split into a smile as she tried to stifle laughter. It didn't work and she folded into the table.

"That's such a devious idea!" She laughed. "It might even work if it all goes according to plan."

"Yup." I nodded, a slight smile on my face. "I'll be in the area, not like I have anything better to do. So call me if things head south. I'll get to you as soon as I can."

"Thanks." She smiled. "I'll even take you out for food after we get everything settled."

"Sounds good."

—

"That sounds dangerous." Madison said as we sat on the roof of the school. I'd gone to talk to her after classes had ended. She was smoking, but I didn't feel in the mood to. She was kicking her legs idly over the edge while I was laying back.

"I mean, not for us." I said.

"What if someone sees you?"

"Grue's powers make that impossible. And I won't be going with them immediately. I send them over, walk around for a bit, then go in and get them to wherever they need to go. As long as I avoid places with cameras, I'm good."

"What about Theo?"

Ah. I'd forgotten about Theo. He wasn't always available with his family situation, but it was still good to keep him in the loop.

"I'll call him, see what he says."

"And what do you need me to do again?" She asked, still confused.

"I just need you to keep an eye on Downtown. While the heist is running. See if you find any guys that look like mercenaries with tinkertech. Maybe a few dark SUV's. I don't know how Coil operates, but it seems his style if he's acting like a Bond villain."

"So I'm not helping with the robbery?" Her voice was low like she was disappointed.

"Did you want to?" I asked incredulously.

"… Little bit."

I sighed and shook my head. "It's their heist. I'm just making sure they get out of it alright. But I'd like to have you there to scope things out. You're… the only one I can rely on for this." And as much as I disliked the thought, it was true. Lisa was too tangled in Coils strings for me to rely on too often when it came to him. Theo was in a bad spot with so many of the people around him being Capes, and I was already supposed to be helping them escape. A set of eyes in the sky I was certain about would help.

And that was the other thing. I still didn't trust her, I wasn't sure when or if I ever would, but at this point I was sure I could rely on her to do what I needed of her.

"R-really?" She asked lowly. "You… You feel you can rely on me?"

I couldn't pinpoint what the emotion was in her voice, but there was a lot of it. It made my eye twitch that she was so emotional over something like this.

"Yes." I managed after a few seconds, the admission tasting sour. "It's… Early. But like you said, I'm trusting you to not fuck this all up."

Then her weight, which was admittedly very little, was pressed on top of me.

"What the _hell_?!" I shouted, grabbing at her shoulders. "Get off of me! Off! No touching!" I shimmied away, pushing her off of me.

"Sorry. It's just… I'm so happy." She smiled, bright and toothy. It was like she'd just been told she won a lifetime supply of makeup or something.

I gave her a harsh stare, but she didn't react to it.

"If you burned my hair with your smoke we're gonna have problems." I said, brushing a hand through my hair to clear out any of the gravel from the roof.

"Sorry. I didn't realize you were sensitive about it." She looked away, but still had that smile on her face.

I didn't say anything, still brushing my hands through my hair.

"Well I am." I said eventually, laying back down.

Neither of us spoke until she finished her cigarette and tossed it off the roof. She fell back to look at the clouds.

"Did you think about what I asked?"

"What?"

"Dinner at my place. I asked Friday."

"Oh…" I realized, having completely forgotten about that. "I… It kinda slipped my mind after Monday. Hell, I'd forgotten when I thought you'd told Sophia about me testing out. Uh… How about Thursday night? I'll ask my dad what he thinks."

Really I had to make sure he knew not to start drinking as soon as he got home.

"Yeah, that sounds good. I'll see what mom says. You might not meet my dad. He tends to work late."

"Yeah, so does mine." I sighed, sitting up. "Speaking of, I should probably get home. I need to start cooking." I stretched, my back popping in several places making Madison flinch.

"I still hate that sound." She sighed. "I didn't know you cooked."

"I kinda have to. No real choice since dad works so much. He's not… the best at it, either. So I cook most of our meals."

"Huh… Right." She nodded. I rolled my eyes, knowing she'd forgotten my mom was dead. It was kind of hard to see how she could considering how often Emma liked to use that against me. "Is there anything in particular you want?"

I cocked my head to the side in thought. "Your mom know how to make chicken parm?" I asked.

"I'll ask her." She said, then started giggling.

"What?"

"I just thought about something funny. It feels like we're really doing the spy movie stuff. Robbing banks by day, home for dinner by evening. The perfect cover."

I rolled my eyes, but it got a small laugh out of me. "Okay, miss big bad bank robber."

"Stick em up!" She pointed a finger gun at me.

"You'll just have to kill me." I drawled.

We stared each other down before she broke into laughter and my smile widened slightly.

"See you tomorrow at lunch?" She asked.

"Yeah." I nodded before taking off for home.

—

I ended up calling Theo while I was in the middle of cooking. It wasn't anything I had to keep a constant eye on, so I decided to get that call out of the way.

"Hey, Taylor." Theo answered.

"Hey. You got time to talk?" I asked dully. Surprisingly I didn't feel anxious about asking what he'd think of all this.

"A bit. Is it important?"

"Yeah. You know what kind."

"Gotcha."

I head him fumble with his phone for a bit before he answered again.

"Okay, I got a few minutes."

"The Undersiders asked for our help with a job."

"What kind of job?" He asked casually. I expected him to be a bit wary after the thing with Lung, but I was apparently wrong in that thinking.

"Bank robbery." I said, just as casually.

If silence could be loud, this sounded like the equivalent of the Endbringer siren.

"Excuse me, what the fuck?" He asked. "They're doing something that big after getting torched by Lung just yesterday?"

"Yeah, that summed up my thoughts too."

"What did you say?"

"Lisa convinced me to help out on the escape side of things. A decent amount of money for very little work."

"That's…" he stopped, frustration clear in his voice. "I thought they only did petty jobs. Stole from the gangs."

"They have a boss who picks their targets. Coil. He's using them as a distraction for something. I'm gonna have Madison watching ground to see if anything shady happens while I help the Undersiders. I wanted to keep you in the loop on what's going on."

"I don't like this at all. I wanted to avoid hurting regular people as much as possible."

"Then you should have voted hero. This is walking the line, Theo. I won't fault you if you don't want to participate. I'm iffy about it too. But if we're gonna be anti-heroes or whatever, we have to be willing to break laws. The Undersiders aren't any happier about this than you are. Hopefully if everything goes to plan the worst thing that happens is a few people leave with some trauma."

He growled, but I could basically see him nodding.

"Fine. It sucks, but you're right. We'll hit some safe houses Friday night. A heroic deed for a villainous one."

"Alright. I'll call you if there are any updates."

"Thanks for keeping me in the know instead of dropping it on me later. I gotta go, later."

"Bye."

—

Dad got home a little after six. I had finished cooking half an hour before and was just waiting for him.

"Hey dad." I said as he walked into the kitchen.

"Hey." He mumbled, heading towards the fridge.

"Hold on." I said, stopping him. He looked at me like he was too tired for whatever I wanted to say and I didn't let the hurt show on my face. "A girl from school invited us for dinner Thursday."

He gave something between a groan and a sigh and pushed his glasses up to rub his eyes.

"What time?" He groaned.

"I'll ask her, but probably around six."

"Do I have to go?" He looked at me with tired red eyes and I looked away from him, unable to hold his gaze for more than a few seconds.

"No…" I got out eventually. "You don't have to come." I moved away from the fridge.

He nodded, reaching in and grabbing a beer. "Are you still going to cook tomorrow?" He popped open the can and I flinched at the sound.

I shook my head, eyes still on the ground.

"Do you know when you'll be back?"

"No."

"Okay. I'll grab something on the way home."

"Okay." I said, moving to set the table.

Dinner was more silent than usual. I didn't have much to talk about and didn't feel up to talking much after that. Dad didn't try to talk either, more focused on his food than anything. I left him to wash the dishes and went to my room as soon as I was done.

—

It was a bit past eleven when Lisa called me. I almost didn't answer the phone, but I had an idea she'd keep calling until I did.

"Hello?" I asked lowly.

"You're not—, are you okay?" She asked, her voice very concerned.

"I… don't really want to talk about it right now. What's up?"

"You told me you'd talk to me about this stuff." She said.

I sighed. I had said that. "Fine. But what's your thing first?"

"Brian wants to test your powers. Meet at the Boat Graveyard immediately. I'll walk with you home after so we can talk."

I was quiet for a few seconds before sighing again. "Alright. Be there in a sec."

I dragged myself off my bed and grabbed a hoodie off my desk. Luckily it wasn't the white one Lisa had bought me. It was probably too bright for what we were about to do anyway. I opened a Garganta and walked through. It was convenient that I could just sort of pick a place I knew and open a portal there. Sonido was usually faster inside the city, but if you were going from one enclosed space, like my room, to another, like the Boat Graveyard, it was useful to just get there without stopping.

I stepped out into the cold night air just as Lisa showed up. She had Brian in a bridal carry when she stopped and he was not looking okay.

"I thought I'd beat you." She pouted as she gently put Brian back on the ground. It took him a few seconds to get his bearings, but at least he didn't puke.

"Portal." I said simply.

She stared at me incredulously for a few seconds before sighing.

"Of course it works that way. That's cheating, you know?"

I shrugged. "Sonido is usually faster. You just left later than me."

"You're still a cheater." She said with a smile.

"I think I can live with that." I grinned back.

"Okay." Brian said a bit loudly. "I'm okay. Never do that again. Please."

"Well we wouldn't have had to if I knew I could just open a portal here. We'll take one back."

"Thank you." Brian sighed then turned to me. "Now, powers. How do they work?"

"That seems like a question for scientists." I shrug.

"Lisa snorted and Brian shook his head.

"You know what I mean."

"Just gotta touch you and poof, you're gone. The other side looks the same but you can't interact with anything. And there's no ambient sounds. It's actually kinda creepy now that I think about it."

"It doesn't do any damage or anything, right?"

"Nope." I shook my head and put my hands out. "Here, take my hand I'll show you the other side."

Lisa grabbed my left hand with no hesitation while Brian took a few seconds to grab my right. And then I let go.

Lisa looked around in amazement while Brian didn't seem to notice the difference at first.

"We didn't go anywhere." He said.

"Brian, listen." Lisa sighed.

"Yeah, it's quiet." He shrugged.

"Exactly!" she snapped her fingers and pointed at him. "It's quiet." She said like that explained it all.

"I don't see how… Wait. I can't hear the ocean." He realized.

"Yeah. No sounds at all except the ones we make." I nodded. "Follow me." I started back towards the entrance and they followed, Lisa's face still bright from what I guessed was the new experience. When we got back out towards the street Brian's eyes widened.

"There's really nothing here." He said quietly.

"Nope. Not a thing. Check this." I walked over to a wall and my hand went right through it.

"This really is the ultimate stranger power. No time limit or anything? You can just come here?"

"Yup." I nodded.

"And there's no time. We can stay here as long as we need to. We could walk across the ocean if we wanted." Lisa explained.

"I've never tried to walk on the water here. Time in the real world still moves, we just aren't affected by it here. We could sit here all night and this world wouldn't change. It's just a snap shot of everything that was happening when we entered." I explained.

"Yeah, you're definitely worth ten percent." Brian laughed.

"Now we just need to see if your smoke lingers when you switch." Lisa said.

We walked back to the Boat Graveyard and I took us back to reality.

"Alright, Brian, make some smoke and Taylor will send you off to the…" She looked at me.

"I've just been calling it the Isolation World." I shrug.

"You should come up with a better name. In our theme, of course." She said. "Anyway, Taylor will send you to the Isolation World and we'll see if your smoke lingers and plan from there."

Brian nodded and black smoke billowed from him, flooding the area around us. I tapped him and he and his smoke disappeared.

"Well that didn't work." I said blandly.

"It's about what I was expecting." Lisa nodded. "His power works like a generator. If he's not there to power it than the smoke just dissipates."

"Did you know that or are you just now sure?"

"I had an idea before, but confirmation is always better. Anyway, let's go to him so we can talk about the rest of the plan. We'll walk back to the loft while we talk." She put her hand out. I slapped it and we were in front of Brian again.

"Did it work?" He asked.

"No, but that's fine. It's just a modification of our usual tactic." Lisa told him.

"Got it. I'll make sure to go last." He nodded.

"Great. Now, Taylor, you're trying to build up some hero cred right now, right?"

"Yeah."

"Fight us." She said simply.

I gave her a look and she frowned, her eye twitching.

"No, I didn't hit my head." She growled.

"Just making sure." I put my hands up in surrender. "So you want me to show up and fight against you guys?"

"Yup. You show up maybe a few minutes after whatever Wards do, fight us, then we'll take off, you follow us and tag us to send us here. It looks like we just got away. You get hero cred and some cash. Easy win for both of us."

"I guess it's easier than just waiting around for a call or something."

"Exactly. You should sit somewhere with a view of the bank so when the Wards show up you can just pop up a little bit later."

"Sounds like a plan. I'll make sure to hold back. I won't hit you too hard."

"Don't hit hard at all!" Lisa shouted.

"Long as you don't send me flying down the street or whatever, I can take it." Brian said. He opened his mouth to speak again but Lisa cut him off.

"Yes, we can do that. It would be like the force of a car packed into a fist. It wouldn't end well."

"Figured." He sighed. "Hey, can you take me to my apartment?"

"Sure." I opened a Garganta and we stepped through. The walk only took a few seconds, but Brian seemed really uncomfortable in there. He sighed in relief when we came out the other end.

"That place is creepy. Thanks for the lift. Can you send me back to… Reality I guess?"

I took a second to make sure no one was around and nodded.

"See you tomorrow." I said.

"Bye, Brian." Lisa waved as I tapped him.

It was silent for a few seconds before she turned to me, her eyes doing their best to bore holes in me. Then she stepped forward and wrapped me in a hug. I tensed up but didn't stop her. She didn't let go until I relaxed.

"Want to talk about it?" She asked as we started towards my house. Her voice had the same somberness it did when talking to a widow. That bothered me. I knew she picked up enough info off me from that staring contest, but I didn't like that she sounded like she was talking to some kicked puppy.

"Not really." I said, pulling a pack a cigarettes from my jacket. I lit it with my thumb and put the box away.

"But…" She said as I blew out a puff of smoke.

"But I said I'd talk to you about it, so I will." I sighed.

"So what happened?"

"Madison told her mom about what she did." I started, looking up at the sky. The stars didn't move here, but they were still nice to look at. "She invited us over for dinner. I'd forgotten about it until today when I was talking to her. I told my dad and he just…" I grit my teeth, being conscious not to crush my smoke. "He just brushed it off. 'Do I have to go?' he asked like it was some big burden. It's like all he can be bothered to do these days is drink and work. I have no idea what's wrong with him because he's either never home to talk or to drunk to have an actual conversation with. The times where he's not either of those things are so few and far between it's ridiculous." I took a long drag of my cigarette and breathed out slowly to calm down. Ranting would be bad, much as I wanted to. "I just want him to talk to me, you know? Things were tense after mom died, but after what happened in January it's like he's just lost whatever will to live he had left."

"Your Not-Quite-a-Trigger Event?" She asked quietly.

"I guess." I shrugged. "It really fucked me up, but…I don't know. I've king of worked through a lot of my problems since then. There are somethings that just aren't that easy, but I think I'm in a better place over all than I was before."

"And if you didn't get powers?" She asked.

I laughed bitterly. "I'd either be dead or in jail if not by now then soon enough. They like pushing buttons. They pushed a real sensitive one on Friday and I almost snapped. Everyone has a breaking point, and I'm far past mine, I just have more self control than that now. If I had to keep going without powers…" I shrugged again. "It's not like it's hard to get guns in a city like the Bay."

Lisa shivered and I knew it wasn't from the cold.

"I can't say I wouldn't have similar thoughts in that situation." She finally said. "But that's not what we're talking about. Why do you think he's gotten like this?"

"I have some ideas, but I'm not sure. The only time he's ever drank like this was the few weeks after mom died. Like, maybe three before he got it together. Now… It's been months and he's just so lost in his own head. The Dockworkers are even getting more work than usual so we get a bit more income than usual, but nothings gotten through to him."

"Well, I have some ideas about what it could be, most likely he's in grief over what happened, but I'd have to talk to him to get a better idea."

"Grief. Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised at that." I said, flicking my cigarette butt of into the distance. I sighed, running my hand through my hair. "I'll talk to him at some point. For now, we've got stuff to do. I… Can live with it for a while longer."

Lisa pulled me into another hug. I didn't tense, but I didn't return the hug either. It was nice, though, to have that feeling again.

"If you ever need me, you have my number. I'll send you the address of my apartment. If you need a place to stay for any reason, you can stay there. I only spend a few nights a week there, so you can have it for long term stays if you don't want to have to deal with Alec and Rachel."

I smiled slightly. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Good. Now, let's get back."

She came with me home before taking off. I slept a little easier.


	20. Forge 2.4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: This chapter kicked my ass so hard. It was a slog to write because I wasn't sure how I wanted to do things. The second half of it turned out better than the first. I'm behind in my writing now, I haven't even started on the next chapter since I spent the whole week trying to finish this one. It should still be on time though, so don't worry about that.

Downtown Brockton Bay was actually pretty nice in the middle of the day. It's the only time where you didn't have to deal with the super powered Neo-Nazi's. The regular ones were still out and about, but they were less likely to try something blatant when they knew they wouldn't have cape backup. Aside from the mall being in Downtown, there were also a lot of nice shops. It was a crap shoot on which ones had Empire connections and which didn't, but most non-white people tended to avoid being in the area for too long to avoid any kind of trouble. It was a shame there were so many people who couldn't enjoy their city just because it was over run with violent racists and the heroes were stuck in stasis. Either they risked a war that would get a lot of people killed, or they maintained the status quo. You'd have to be blind to not see which was easier.

Luckily the Empire's hold on Downtown was strenuous at best. With Coil constantly fighting them for territory they didn't have as much control as they did when Allfather was still around, or even as much as they did just five years ago. The edges of their territory, especially near Arcadia were basically not in their control. At least not in any meaningful way.

Which was why I was able to enjoy a nice cup of tea at a cafe within view, rather my view, of Brockton Central. I didn't know if it was Sophia and Emma or if I just looked Jewish, but some people really thought I was. It was more confusing than anything.

The tea the shop served was decent. Not anything special, but good enough. It was definitely my mothers fault I liked tea over coffee. It was what she drank and I took after her in that regard. Dad preferred coffee, and I wasn't going to fault him for it because personal taste and all, but tea had a more varied taste to it. There were different types of coffee, sure, but most people wouldn't be able to pick up on the difference. With tea, every flavor was distinct. It didn't have the same variety as apples, but it might as well have.

It was actually pretty calming to just sit in my window seat and watch Downtown pass me by while I enjoyed my drink and the chilled out fusion jazz playing over the speakers. It was the most relaxed I'd felt in a while. I was so relaxed I almost didn't notice Theo sit across from me.

"Hey." Theo said, sitting down.

"Hello." I took a sip of tea. "So, how are you feeling about this?" I asked. I'd caught him up on everything the day before and he was surprisingly okay with it.

"I'm still iffy, but at least it builds us some reputation in the right places. Don't want to piss off the wrong people too soon." He sighed.

"Tomorrow night isn't too soon?" I joked.

"Nah. Besides, I got some info from some of them yesterday. I have a few places we can go."

"Nice. Just the ones you know or the other guys too?"

"Everyone." He smirked. "We might even be able to sell some to the others."

"Very nice. How many do you think we can do in one night?"

"Depends on who's there and when we go. If we start small first we might be able to get through seven or eight." He said casually.

"Sounds like a lot, actually."

"Maybe for the normal guys." He smirked.

"Heh. Good point. What time should we meet up?"

"Right after school should be good Around four?" He suggested.

"Sounds good to me." I took a sip of tea. "Ah, they're here." I nodded toward the bank where the Undersiders and Circus were just entering.

"When do we go?"

"A little after the Wards show up. We've got maybe ten minutes."

It was quiet for a few minutes as I enjoyed my drink and the music. Theo was looking at me, but I could tell his thoughts were serious.

"I don't like how casual you are about this." He looked at me seriously.

"I've become numb to most things. It's actually rather unfortunate. But," I shrugged, "It lets me do a lot of things I wouldn't normally do. Like stand up for myself. Living with a lack of fear of most things is actually quite liberating. There are problems with being the way I am, but those aren't going to be worked out any time soon." My tone was bland, but I thought it helped get my point across.

"Huh… As long as it doesn't get us into trouble in the long run." He sighed.

"It probably won't."

"I wish you were more certain about that."

"I wish a lot of things, but we don't always get what we want." I said, finishing off my tea and standing up. "They're a bit early. Let's go."

Theo stood and followed me out of the cafe. We turned a corner into an alley and I slipped us into the Isolation world. We switched into our costumes quickly and I stopped.

"Did I ever tell you we get weapons?" I asked.

"We get weapons?!" His head snapped towards me. "Why didn't you say anything sooner?"

"It slipped my mind." I shrugged. "You can summon them the same as your mask. Just think weapon and poof." I held up my guns. Bone white with intricate carvings in the sides. "I don't actually need mine since I can use all my powers effectively without them, but they help me focus on certain things."

Theo looked at me blankly before shaking his head. He summoned his own weapons, a set of claws that looked like black gloves with long sharp nails, and looked them over.

"Yeah, I can work with this."

"Good. Let's go."

We get back to reality and I nod to him. We appear near the wards with a Sonido and I several of them jump. It's Clockblocker, Vista, Gallant, Aegis, Kid Win, and a new Ward I hadn't seen before.

"What's the situation?" I asked.

"Sacrosanct, Samael." Clockblocker said. "The Undersiders are robbing the bank and have taken everyone inside hostage."

"We're waiting for them to come out." Gallant started. "We can't engage them yet. Not with hostages inside."

I notice Vista tense at that, but she doesn't say anything.

"Alright. Well, we're here to help out." Samael said.

"Thanks. All the help we can get is appreciated." Clockblocker said.

Glory Girl showed up a minute later and I sigh. It was never that easy, though some of them probably took it as a sigh of relief for extra back up.

We don't have to wait long for the action to start. Several hostages start running from the building, splitting up, followed a few seconds later by Grue's darkness.

Then all the Wards except Clockblocker collapsed. Kid Win fell from the sky and I managed to catch him before he slammed into the ground, though his hover board wasn't saved. I had no idea why they dropped. Lisa didn't actually tell me what the tinkertech Coil gave them did, but I took that as the cue to start.

I fired a few Bala into the darkness, more hoping I'd hit something while Clockblocker flew up above the black cloud. I raised an eyebrow at that. Clockblocker couldn't fly. I realized a second later Aegis must have switched with Clockblocker to confuse them. It worked on me.

Bitch and her Dogs broke through the smoke just as the Wards started to get up. One of them went for Aegis and the others for the ones getting up. I dashed down and punched one of the monster dogs so it didn't trample over Gallant and it slammed into a wall. I heard an explosion go off and saw Samael had flipped one of them into the air with an explosion.

"You okay?" I asked Clockblocker as he slowly made his way to his feet.

"I feel like I just downed a bottle of muscle relaxers for a few seconds." He sighed.

"Whatever that was, I don't want to be hit by it again." Gallant said.

"I think I'm gonna puke." Vista groaned.

"Incoming!" The new Ward shouted, rushing in front of us and taking on the giant monster dog.

I turned in time to see another coming right at me. Before I could dodge I felt all my muscles tense then I got bowled over, rolling down the street and into a building from the force of the dog. I wasn't out for nearly as long as the wards, but it was still weird to feel my body lock up the way it did. I heard several more explosions go off before I could make it back to the fight.

Kid Win had gotten back on his board but had no control over it. He was flying like a drunken surfer and barely had control of himself. His guns were worse, firing every which way at varying intensities and sparking every time they did.

"I can't feel my arms!" Vista screamed.

Gallant was firing at Bitch and her dog while the New guy was still trying to take one down on his own. I couldn't see Clockblocker, but Aegis had been sent flying into a wall. New Guy suddenly went down, getting stomped into the ground after the second dog swiped at him after sending Aegis flying. I dashed forward, shoulder checking one of the dogs to keep it from stomping on him again. I fired a few Bala's at the other before Samael sent it flying with an explosion.

"Bitch! We're leaving!" Grue shouted. Bitch whistled and her dogs regrouped, speeding towards the her.

Grue's darkness shrank enough that they could safely ride past the front of the bank to grab Tattletale and Circus without stopping or screwing up.

"I can't see anything!" Vista shouted before going down like a sack of potatoes. I saw Regent Sonido from behind her to the rest of the Undersiders. Once Tattletale and Circus were picked up the darkness spread out and I felt my muscles tighten up again. I let myself fall into the darkness before catching myself and getting to the alley behind the bank where were supposed to meet.

"Ready?" I asked.

"Let's go." Grue nodded.

I tapped everyone and the dogs, sending Grue last. I got back to the bank a few seconds later to see everyone still making their way to their feet.

"They're gone. Couldn't find them." I sighed.

"It's fine." Aegis, still dressed as Clockblocker said. "They're slippery bunch."

"Wish we could have done more to help. I have no idea what was causing us to freeze up like that." Samael said.

"Probably tinkertech. I didn't know the Undersiders had one." Gallant sighed.

"What happened to Clockblocker?" I asked.

"He froze his suit." Aegis pointed to the red statue. "Probably when they fried us. He was stuck like that the whole time."

"Unfortunate."

"Extremely." Gallant sighed as Clockblocker unfroze.

"Well, that sucked." He sighed.

"Very much so." The new Ward said. "I'm Browbeat, by the way. New to the team."

"Hello. We're the Espada, I'm Sacrosanct. That's Samael." I nod.

"Speaking of, aren't there supposed to be three of you?" Aegis asked.

"Nihilus was busy and couldn't make it." Samael answered.

"I wanted to see what her bubbles did." Clockblocker sighed. "Well, while I have you here, I have a bet going with Velocity and Assault. Are you guys religious? And if you are, is it the Church of Bacon?"

"You know that's a real thing?" I stated more than asked.

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah. Started up last year. They're based in Vegas. They mostly send money to charity though. They're a parody religion." I explained.

"Huh…"

"We also aren't religious." Samael added.

"Well, I guess I lost that bet." Clockblocker sighed.

"Clock." Aegis said sternly. "Anyway, would you be willing to come to the PRT building to give a statement?"

The last thing I wanted was to be in the PRT building. Getting out would be a breeze, but I didn't want to put myself in that situation in the first place.

"You can't take one now?" Samael asked.

"We're not really in a situation to do so." Gallant sighed.

"Then maybe later. We're gonna take off now. Hope Vista's okay." I said before taking off.

We left and changed back into civilian clothes, splitting up after. I texted Madison our meet up time, but didn't hear back from her. I met up with the Undersiders right after. They had made their way to their base while I was finishing up with the Wards and all I had to do was let them out.

"Thanks a lot for that." Grue said when I finally caught up with them.

"We made a deal." I shrugged.

"It was still a big help. We've never gotten out of something so fast."

"Can we hurry this up?" Bitch said.

"Yep." I sent her and her dogs first.

"Me next. I want to get back to my games." Alec said. I rolled my eyes and sent him back. Then I tapped Grue, leaving me with just Circus and Lisa.

"Circus." I said, sharpening my voice a bit. "If you tell anyone about my involvement in this… We're going to have problems. Got it?"

Circus nodded quickly and I sent them back.

"You really did help." Lisa started. "Glory Girl probably would've chased us if you didn't help."

"I didn't see her after the fighting started. What happened?" I asked.

Lisa sighed. "She burst through the window ready to take Circus' head off and I come back in time to see her get smashed into the ground with a sledgehammer."

"That happened at the mall last Saturday too. Must've been itching for a rematch."

"Oh she was super pissed. I only managed to talk her down by poking holes in what she thought was a perfect little family life. I doubt she'll make anything of it for now, but she's gonna start seeing things she didn't notice before. I give it a few weeks at best before she gets into an argument with Brandish about Panacea."

"Huh. Alright. Theo and I are meeting up with Madison around four to regroup with her. You're welcome to come if you want since she was on the look out for Coils thing."

"I probably won't have the time. Catch me up on it later?" She asked.

"Yeah. Later." I tap her before heading home.

—

I decided to pick up a box of donuts before meeting with the others. Abby didn't close her shop until almost five in the afternoon, so I was more than safe in getting them without bothering her. I'd seen her just kick people out if they weren't done by the time she closed shop.

"Alright people, let's talk." I said, walking into Las Noches and putting the donuts and milk on the table. Madison was on her phone while Theo was just looking up at the stars. They didn't bother to move as the room shifted.

"Oh, donuts!" Madison lit up, reaching for he box.

"I guess I'll start first." I rolled my eyes and sat down. "Everything went pretty well. There were more Wards than we were expecting, and Glory Girl showed up, but whatever that tinkertech was helped them out big time." I explained. "I got them out and to their base with no problems. The Wards don't seem to be too wary of us, which is nice. Probably have orders to work with us if they get the chance. I wouldn't be surprised if that was how they try to soft sell people on the Wards."

"Do you know what that tinkertech was, by the way? It was like a taser without the pain. Just everything locking up and dropping you." Theo said.

"No idea. Lisa never said." I shrug. "Madison, how'd your thing go?"

"Huh?" She looked up from her second donut. "Oh, uh… I didn't really find anything. I saw these guys with guns load into an SUV and followed them, even stopped them when they were in an empty area, but they didn't have anything but some guns."

I hummed and started thinking. "We probably missed whatever he was after then. Coil wouldn't stage a bank robbery just to grab some guns. He wouldn't need something so big for such a small take, not to mention he'd consider the risk far too high from what I've heard of him."

"So I messed up?" Her face dropped. It almost bothered me sometimes how expressive Madison could be considering what I knew about her. She could go from emotionally dead to excitable puppy at the drop of a hat. Now, thinking she'd done something wrong, she looked like a kicked puppy left out in the rain.

"No, you're fine. I wasn't expecting you to actually find out what he was up to. It was a long shot at best and the fact you ran into his men at all is impressive." I said. She nodded, her face going back to normal. "And that brings us to our plans for tomorrow. You have the map, Theo?"

"Yup." He nodded, pulling out a map of the city. "I got some info out of Cricket about some of the safe houses she knows about. The Merchants are all over the place. They don't have territory so they slip between the cracks of other peoples turf. They mostly like to hang around the Docks, and they have a few drug houses there." He marked a few areas in the Docks. "Next, she knew about a few ABB spots in the Docks and South Docks." He marked a few more areas. "I'm thinking these will be the easiest to hit because the Merchants and ABB are low on capes. We could steamroll Skidmark and Squealer pretty easy. Oni Lee is dangerous, but from what I've heard all he's good for is fighting."

"That's pretty good. You think we can hit all of them at once?" Madison asked.

"Yeah. Even better, we can hit some Empire spots. Kaiser knows better than to consolidate all his resources in one are where they'll be too easy to chain hit, so he has some in the Commerce District, The Coast, and even a few on the edges of the South Docks." He marked the areas of the map. "I think tomorrow we can at least one of each, maybe more. If we're all together it shouldn't take more than a few hours."

"Sounds like a plan. So we have our targets. Lisa said they usually take the cash and anything important and leave the weapons. I kinda want to take them all and destroy them, make it harder for them to recover from the losses, but if we call the PRT or cops, they're going to need the guns or drugs or whatever we find to make a case. We also could get in trouble for destroying evidence, which I don't want to deal with." I explained.

"I agree destroying their stuff would be harder to recover from, but you're right about the evidence." Theo sighed.

"What if we just get rid of a lot of it. Not all the guns, but enough." Madison suggested.

"I think that still counts as destroying evidence." I pointed out. "It would probably be best to leave it and let the cops handle it. Not like the Empire will waste resources on unpowered members and the ABB is in no position to do so with Lung out of the picture."

"Okay, so we leave the guns." Theo said. "Should we have someone stay to meet the PRT?"

"Oh, I can do it!" Madison put her hand up.

"We'll switch out." I said. "I shouldn't take more than two of us to take down a safe house. If one person meets the PRT every time they'd never get to actually practice their powers in live combat."

"Fair enough." She sighed.

"Alright, so what time should we meet up?"

"Ten? That sounds good right?" Theo asked.

"Yeah. My dads usually asleep by then."

"I can do eleven." Madison nodded." My parents don't really check my room after I go to bed, so I should be fine."

"My step mom will be out a bit later than usual today. I should be able to come out once my sister is sleep." Theo said.

"How old is she?"

"She's two."

"Aw! I wanna meet her!" Madison gushed.

"You sure you can leave a two year old alone for a few hours?" I asked.

"She'll be sleep. If we're back before one I should be okay." He nodded.

"Alright. I guess we have everything set up for tomorrow. I'm gonna take off for now. See you guys."

"You're still coming tonight, right?" Madison asked.

"Yes, I'll be over in two hours." I rolled my eyes.

"Alright. See you then."

—

I wasn't surprised to see how close Madison lived to downtown. Her family didn't have _Money_ but they had money. Enough that their house looked very, very nice for what it was. I had gotten the urge to smoke on the way there, but didn't. I'd rather her mom not ask me questions about why I smelled like cigarettes.

I didn't put on anything fancy. I was expecting a very casual affair. As such I'd thrown on a pink bleached hoodie, black jeans, and a black shirt. I was more than a little surprised to see an older version of Madison wearing a nice evening dress.

"Hello. You must be Taylor." She smiled.

"Uh, yeah. Nice to meet you miss." I hoped that didn't come out awkward. That was the last thing I needed right now.

"Is your father not here?" She asked.

"Ah… He… Couldn't get off work." I looked down, forcing those particular emotions away.

She nodded. "My husband is the same. Always working. Ah, please, come in. Madison is setting the table." She turned and led me inside.

The inside of their house probably wasn't very much by most people's standards, but it looked down right extravagant to me. Lots of carved wooden tables, black leather couches, large flat screen, and paintings with intricate frames. The things were probably just designed to look expensive, but compared to my house it might as well have been the inside of a mansion.

"Kitchen is right this way dear, but I'd like to speak with you first." She stopped, suddenly serious as she faced me. "I invited you over to apologize for my daughters action. I thought we'd raised her better than that. Whatever she's done, I'm sincerely sorry for. We're doing our best to punish her and make sure she doesn't do anything like that in the future. I'm not asking you to forgive her, just… Know that she is trying."

I really wanted to leave. I wasn't sure what to say to her. 'Oh, don't worry about it, she's making it up by being my punching bag during lunch'? That wasn't going to fly at all.

"Uh… Well, I haven't forgiven her, but she's trying to make it up to me. It's been a rocky start, but she's only been trying to be better for about a week, and it's going to take more time than that before I can really trust her. Barring extenuating circumstances." I said. "Honestly, most people would probably call me too forgiving for even associating with her after all that, but I can tell she's genuinely trying. The only reason I'm really even giving her a chance is because I know she regrets it and has for a long time. Under most other circumstances, I wouldn't have even let her get close enough to start apologizing."

"Well, I'm just glad you're willing to give her the chance to be better. Hopefully she'll learn something from you in that regard."

I managed not to snort at the irony of that statement.

Dinner was a bit more lively than at home. We talked about mundane things for the most part, but actually having someone to interact with over dinner instead of silently existing in the same room was a nice change of pace. When we were done I ended up going to Madison's room to talk.

"Sorry about my mom. She can be kinda… intense sometimes." She sighed.

"It's fine. I haven't a dinner that lively in a while. It was nice." I said, sitting in her desk chair. Her room was painted a dull pink with white accents. Most of her furniture was either pink or white. Her bed had stuffed animals on it and she had even more on her shelf.

"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I think mom likes you too." Madison flopped onto her bed.

"That's good." I said.

She didn't speak again and I was happy to look out the window in silence for a while.

"Taylor?" She asked.

"Yeah?"

"What kind of music do you listen to?"

"Huh?" I looked over at her. The question felt odd and out of place.

"What kind of music do you like?" She didn't get up but I could tell she was looking at me.

"Why?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I've been wondering since you had that argument with Greg."

"Ah." That made sense. "I mostly listen to instrumental music. I don't have a preference on slow or fast, I think. Though I guess I listen to more chaotic music than not."

"You don't have a favorite genre?"

"Not particularly. I end up listening to a lot of jazz, but other genres have instrumentals too. I either listen to instrumentals or songs that tell stories. I don't like things with nonsense lyrics. I bought a metal album just because it was a concept album focused on the book Moby Dick. All the songs told parts of the story in some way. I like the Misfits for the same reason. A lot of their songs tell interesting stories. Horror stories, sure, but interesting stories."

"Huh… I mostly just listen to boy bands and pop music."

"Most of that isn't really to my taste." I shook my head.

"Well, I won't try to force it on you. Do you think you can bring a CD next time you come over?"

"Next time?"

"Do you not want to come over again?"

I shrugged. "Maybe."

"Good enough." She sighed. "Hey!" She shot up. "Did you know people are talking about us?"

"What?"

"Online." She said, opening her laptop. "I forgot to mention it before. Someone posted about the robbery on PHO and people are talking about us." She handed me her laptop to look over the thread.

—

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**Topic: Brockton Central Bank Robbery**

**In: Boards ► News ► Events ► America**

**Dead-Letter** (Original Poster)

Posted April 14, 2011:

So the Undersiders took a break from their usual M.O and robbed Brockton Central today. They even recruited Circus to help them out. They took everyone inside hostage before the Wards showed. Even better, the new guys in town, The Espada showed up to help out. Glory Girl burst through the window at some point to fight Circus because Panacea was in the bank. Plus, the Undersiders seem to have gotten a Tinker. They had these weird weapons that put people down real fast without doing any real damage to them. Just pull the trigger and the person drops like they got tazed.

I didn't get to see much of the fighting, but I know the Undersiders managed to slip away. If they really do have a Tinker on their side, I can see how they'd be willing to rob a bank, because that tech was insane. If anything I'm just surprised they managed to give both the Wards and Espada the slip.

**Pharaoh Luna Lou** (Cape Groupie)

Replied on April, 14, 2011

Oh, did anyone see the Espada use their powers? Were all of them there? I know Nihilus has those bubbles, but I really want to know what they can do. Did you manage to see what Samael could do? This is the first time anyone has seen them out since they took out Lung the other day.

**Dead-Letter** (Original Poster)

Replied on April 14, 2011

I didn't see much, but I saw a bunch of explosions going off, so I'm guessing at least one of them can just cause explosions. Sacrosanct was throwing out blasts from her fists. As far as I know Nihilus wasn't there.

**The Speedster**

Replied on April 14 2011

Wow, I'm glad I wasn't in downtown then. I did need to hit the bank today too. Never thought I'd say this, but thank god for traffic.

**Glubglub4k**

Replied on April 14, 2011

Oh man, I'm so glad they're not villains if they have a guy that can just throw around explosions that can toss Hellhound's monsters around like that.

**Pharaoh Luna Lou** (Cape Groupie)

Replied on April 14, 2011

|Toss Hellhound's monsters around

Wait, what? There's video? Where, where, where, I need it!

**Robo-Low24**

Replied on April 14, 2011

I got you. Link.

**Pharaoh Luna Lou** (Cape Groupie)

Replied on April 14, 2011

Yes! You're the best!

**ToxicSnake**

Replied on April 14, 2011

From the looks of things they're both flying blasters. Nothing really out of the ordinary. I'd almost ask if Samael is related to New Wave since he's blond, but he' doesn't have their signature light blasts.

**Glory Girl** (Verified Cape)

Replied on April 14, 2011

Unless mom or aunt Sarah has a secret son or cousin we don't know about, he's not related to us.

**Skinner of Demons**

Replied on April 14, 2011

How insightful, Glory Girl.

Seriously, though, I don't think they're normal capes. Didn't the thread from Monday say Sacrosanct has some sort of phasing ability on top of her blasts? And their flying doesn't look like normal flying. It looks like they're just standing on air. Here's Nihilus somewhere else in downtown while her teammates were at the bank. She chased down some car that a bunch of guys with guns were in.

**1** , 2, 3, 4, 5, … 10

**White Shadow**

Replied on April 14, 2011

She probably saw something suspicious and wanted to check it out, making her miss the robbery. Not that it really mattered in the end.

**Celestial** (Unverified Goddess)

Replied on April 14, 2011

Honestly, that sounds like something that could happen. Not to mention the PRT gave her a shaker rating of 5, so she's more than capable by herself.

**Nixavada**

Replied on April 14, 2011

I wonder what hit the Wards and why the Espada weren't affected by it at first.

**Clockblocker** (Wards ENE) (Verified Cape)

Replied on April 14, 2011

I'm not sure how much I can say, but it was some kind of tinkertech that makes people's nerves short circuit or something. It felt like getting hit by a tazer without the pain. I think Sacrosanct and Samael were just out of the range of whatever hit us the first time.

**Xenodestroyer**

Replied on April 14, 2011

Where were you for the fight?

**Clockblocker** (Wards ENE) (Verified Cape)

Replied on April 14, 2011

Listen, this isn't about me buddy.

**Skinner of Demons**

Replied on April 14, 2011

Lol, I bet you froze your costume.

**Glubglub4k**

Replied on April 14, 2011

The Wards beat down aside, The Espada are being super mysterious. They just kinda show up every so often, do their work, and disappear without a trace. You hardly ever see capes do that kind of thing. Even some of the villains try to get their image out there.

**The Speedster**

Replied on April 14 2011

That's actually a nice change of pace. Having them come and go the way they do is preferable to them lingering around anywhere. They seem strong and that tends to draw challengers.

**ToxicSnake**

Replied on April 14, 2011

Challengers like who? Lung is out of the picture for now, and if Sacrosanct really sliced his legs off he's basically gone forever. It's not like the Empire actively goes looking for fights. Skidmark might be crazy enough to do it, but their preliminary PRT ratings say that's a curbstomp battle just waiting to happen.

1, **2** , 3, 4, 5, …. 10

—

"Huh…" I said, looking at the thread. "Is there another one?"

"Yeah, from Monday. They were talking about the fight with Lung, but that devolved into power scaling until the mods locked the thread." She explained.

"Power scaling?" I asked confused.

"People try to figure out which capes could beat other capes based on their power and their feats. There were a lot of people arguing over whether or not we could be the Triumvirate based on us taking out Lung so easily and our PRT ratings."

"Uh-huh… How much time did you spend in that thread arguing we could beat them?"

"Oh, I don't do power scaling. No, I'd rather stick to my Capefic. I don't have to do math with Capefic."

"Of course." I smiled a bit. "I'm gonna head. Make sure my dad got back alright."

"Okay, I'll walk you out."

Getting her mother to actually let me leave was close to pulling teeth, but eventually she let me go with a bag of cookies. I wasn't surprised to find dad sleep on the couch when I got back. I was just glad he hadn't tried to cook after drinking again. After getting him to his bed and cleaning up the cans he left I collapsed into the couch with a sigh and opened the cookies I'd gotten from Mrs. Clements.

"These are actually quite good." I said to myself after taking a bite. I'd definitely be going back if I got cookies every time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so we get to see the stolen tinkertech in action for a bit. I was trying to decide what I wanted it to do and ended up going with frequency disruption. The weapons they had were basically localized jammers that act as EMPs on the nervous system. So they roll out a grenade, it pulses, anything within that area sort of goes haywire for a few seconds. For humans this just makes it so they get crossed wires and can't move for a little while. For most electronics it's like a flicker. Other tinkertech, however, needs repairs to recover from it.


	21. Interlude 2.c

Vista walked silently alongside her teammates down to the Wards common area. They had just finished getting chewed out by Director Piggot over the bank situation. It was easy to see she was angry the moment they walked into the lobby, which was surprisingly empty for the time of day. Their pay got docked because Gallant just had to call Glory Girl to show up. Sure her sister was in there, but now they were responsible for damage she’d caused to the bank on top of the damage to the other buildings and sidewalk from a few of them getting tossed around. Piggot sometimes seemed to enjoy punishing them, but Vista knew better than that. She had learned to deal with Piggot in such a way that she never felt too slighted by her attitude. She respected the older woman, but she did not like her. Her general dislike of capes showed even at her most professional and it was not fun to deal with.

Aegis said something about Hellhound’s mutant dogs, but she wasn’t really paying attention. She was frustrated by how poorly everything had gone. Even with the help from the Espada they’d gotten stomped on. Even worse, she didn’t even know what had happened with her. After getting up from whatever that weird pulse was she lost use of her arms. They just went numb, completely dead. Then, when Grue’s darkness went away she wasn’t able to see. Her eyes were open, she could tell they were, but there was nothing. Then she got hit in the back of the head. Worse, it was one of the situations she often used to argue that she should have a weapon of some sort and it wouldn’t even work this time because whatever bullshit power had hit her. The ability to just shut down parts of people’s bodies completely? Fuck that. She could only hope the range was extremely small.

“Vista, could you grab a white board? Maybe two?” Gallant asked, shaking her from her thoughts. She felt her chest flutter.

“Of course.” She answered, frustration gone but not forgotten as she nearly skipped over to grab the requested items. When she got back they started going over the fight, Gallant trying to look on the bright side. They might have all been docked pay but at least they learned what their enemies powers were. His ability to always see the bright side of things was something she liked about him.

Eventually Armsmaster and Miss Militia came in, Panacea having offered to heal them. She was fine, just an ache in the back of her neck, but she could deal with that. She tried not to let it bother her too much when Gallant went off with Panacea alone.

Eventually, after they were done with their briefing, the tour showed up. She usually didn’t mind the tour groups, but she wasn’t feeling them today. She was glad to see them go and leave to grab food from the cafeteria.

Kid Win and Clockblocker had decided to join her, which she didn’t really mind, but she’d wanted a bit of time to herself. After grabbing their food they sat down to eat.

“Today really sucked.” Kid said, taking a bite of the sandwich he got. “Whatever they did screwed up my equipment. I have to repair a bunch of the parts now.”

“Tell me about it. I ended up freezing my suit for the whole fight.”

“I’d rather be stuck than make a fool of myself because my equipment got jammed.”

“We were all pretty useless today.” Vista sighed. “I don’t even know what happened to me. I didn’t even get a chance to try to help.”

“Yeah, but no one expects you to fight.” Kid said.

“You don’t have to worry about a reputation. People on PHO are already making fun of me for freezing my suit.”

Vista was glad she was wearing her visor so they couldn’t see her eye twitching. It was always like that. She was only there for support. She wasn’t old enough to actually be considered for combat. Just sit in the back and make it easier for everyone to fight. If someone slips past and she gets hit? Well, too bad. You can’t have a weapon because it’s bad optics and we don’t wan to encourage you to fight. Every time.

She was very tempted to speak. To say something that would have hit them right where they hit her. ‘At least I would’ve made a difference’. That’s all she had to say to get under their skin. Clock was always worried about being able to get close enough to actually use his power and Kid hadn’t even figured out his tinker specialty yet. That sentence alone would’ve hit them just right. But she didn’t want to do that. She didn’t want to deal with the aftermath and she didn’t want to hurt them like that. So she let that comment slide like she always did and she could work out the anger some other time.

In fact, she’d go do some training right after she was done.

——————

By the time Vista had finished her training she realized she only had about half an hour before she had to leave. She dreaded going home and actually preferred late patrols since it meant she could sleep on site and her parents couldn’t say anything about it. Walking into the locker room she almost sighed.

“Hey Stalker.” She greeted. Interacting with Shadow Stalker was always a game of ‘Don’t let her get to you’. The older girl was callous in general and would go out of her way to piss people off so she could call them a pussy for getting upset at her taunting. She seemed to especially enjoy this with Vista since she’d get reprimanded basically the second she tried to tell her to fuck off.

“Pip Squeak.” Stalker returned. “Heard you losers got stomped at the bank. Probably wouldn’t have happened if you let me come with.”

“You wouldn’t have made it in time anyway.”

“I would’ve made a difference if I was there. Unlike you losers. You just let them get away with barely any resistance.”

“You probably would’ve shot one of the civies through Grue’s darkness. Part of the reason Aegis told you to stay back was because of your hate-on for Grue.”

Stalker snorted. “At least I would’ve managed actually participate instead flailing around like you did.”

Vista took a deep breath so she didn’t say something she’d end up regretting.

“Whatever.” She said, leaving the locker room, making sure to avoid Stalker on her way out.

Walking towards the elevator she ran into Battery. It was rare to see the older woman alone, as Assault acting like they were connected at the hip.

“Hi Battery.” Vista waved, hoping for a short interaction. Battery was nice enough but she had a tendency to be condescending and she could never figure out if it was intentional or not. At least she’d be free of Assaults jokes for a bit.

“Hey Vista. I heard about the thing at the bank earlier. That’s too bad.”

“It sucks, but they were better prepared than we expected. No one knew they had a tinker.”

“Still, really unfortunate how things turned out. No one really expects a tinker, but adapting is part of the job. You’ll figure it out when you get older.” Battery shrugged. Why the woman seemed to inject that particular topic into almost all their interactions was a mystery to Vista.

“I’m sure I will. I need to get back down to the commons.”

“Right. Just don’t worry about it, you know? No one’s really expecting much of you yet. You’ve still got some time. Catch you later, Vista.”

Getting in the elevator, Vista wondered how someone could be so infuriating on accident. At least with Stalker you knew it was on purpose instead of well meaning advice that just came off so incredibly condescending.

Hopefully her parents would let her enjoy a quiet evening for once.

—————————————————

They were fighting again.

She didn’t even know why they hadn’t blocked each others numbers. They knew they hated each other, they knew they were unhappy together, so why did they still talk to each other? One of them always called the other seemingly looking for a fight, and they always got it, never caring about how it made her feel. They acted like they cared, usually to use her as a bargaining chip or a tool to hurt the other, but they didn’t *really care. Even after they’d finally gotten divorced and moved apart she could feel the weight of the resentment they held for each other. She felt at least a bit of it was aimed at her. In her fathers snide comments about how much like her mother she looked. In her mothers annoyed snips about her getting her fathers attitude. She felt at least a part of them blamed her for why they were so unhappy together.

So she took herself out of that environment as much as possible. She stayed at the Rig as often as possible instead of going home. She was Vista more often than she was “Missy”. Which was another thing her parents fought over. They fought each other and they fought her over her choice in joining the Wards. They were constantly hounding her to take less hours, to be home more often. Then shit like this happened when she was at home.

How did you argue with someone on the phone for over an hour? They were just talking in circles at this point. Just fucking hang up, Christ.

She remembered the argument they got into when she got benched by Youth Guard after the Hookwolf incident. They just yelled and yelled and blamed each other, never once realizing it was their fault she had powers in the first place.

Not like the PRT was much of an escape either. Especially not after Shadow Stalker joined. That bitch was unbearable on her best days. Vista could go on and on forever about how pissed off everyone there made her. She legitimately liked most of her teammates, but boy did they have a tendency to really stretch her patience. Shadow Stalker being a bitch was just the tip of the iceberg. She got no respect while she was there. She was treated like a doll, the pretty little PR star. The Littlest Ward. Never mind the fact that she was one of the most experienced members on the team, only Aegis and Gallant having been there longer than her. Never mind the fact she’d stared down fucking Hookwolf and survived, even stitching her wound shut by herself.

She wasn’t allowed to do anything. It was always the same excuses too. “You’re too young, Missy.” Too young. Too small. Too cute. Too weak. All of it just ways to avoid giving her proper recognition. Ways to avoid treating her the way she’d earned. It wasn’t her fault she couldn’t tase Shadow Stalker for being a cunt. It wasn’t her fault she got branded as some crystal flower to be protected when she joined. It wasn’t her fault the adults seemed to do everything in their power to treat her like she was still a fucking toddler. Never mind the fact that some of the adults hadn’t been at this as long as she had. Never mind the fact she’d faced almost every Cape in the city except Lung at least once, and several times over for Hookwolf and Oni Lee. No, forget all the danger she faced down and lived through near unscathed. She was just the fragile little poster girl.

And her teammates. Oh, her teammates sure knew how to piss her off. It wasn’t even like it was on purpose either. It was their attitudes. The way they treated her. Just like everyone else, despite having fought along side her.

Carlos was just the perfect little boy scout. He always had an excuse for the brass. Always willing to do what the top says even if it was stupid. He acted like going against Piggot’s orders was breaking a commandment sometimes. Sure, he was willing to bend the rules at times if he felt it necessary, but that was rare. Not to mention he was always one of the ones to warn her for swearing despite doing so himself and not warning the others for it. Asshole. 

Chris’ offense wasn’t his fault. She just hated the fact that he was allowed to carry around weapons and she wasn’t. He was a Tinker, sure, but she was one of the only team members that actually needed a weapon for if anyone got close to her and she wasn’t allowed to have one. Even Shadow Stalker got to keep her crossbow. Dennis and his stupid sense of humor. The fact he got away with everything and she wasn’t even allowed to get angry in public or she’d have to go to fucking classes and a few extra therapy sessions for anger management. And Dean. Fucking Dean. She loved him. Wanted nothing more than to be with him. But he was such a condescending prick sometimes. Treated her like a child just because she was three years younger than him. Like she’d never be a viable dating option. She hated him almost as much as Shadow Stalker.

And then there were the adults. Oh, she could go on and on and on about them. The Wards always had to wait for them to show up before they were allowed to do anything. She’d seen people die because they had to wait 15 minutes for Armsmaster or Assault and Battery to show up. That was mostly the fault of the PRT and Youth Guard, but it was still disheartening that they weren’t allowed to do their fucking jobs and help people just because they could get hurt. They were Capes. Getting hurt was in their job description. It was page one. Their strict adherence to rules and regulations had gotten people killed because the adult heroes were too far away and whoever was on Console was too scared to go against the top to let them engage and actually help.

She flinched as she heard her mother toss something across the living room. Probably a remote or something. The woman had never been good about dealing with her anger. Vista at least meditated to control herself when she felt she was getting to upset over anything.

Where was she? Right, The Protectorate. Oh how she hated them. Assault was just an adult Dennis. He rarely took anything seriously. He thought his jokes made people less tense, but all it did was piss them off. Battery was worse than Dean, the condescending bitch. Always talking down to her like she wasn’t capable of understanding what was going on around her. Armsmaster was just a dick in general. He had absolutely no tact and thought dealing with the Wards was a hassle more often than not. Dauntless and his bullshit powers making him stronger with zero effort. The PR department casting her as some cute little defenseless child who couldn’t handle herself if need be. Piggot and her stupid, ugly, bigoted face. Miss Militia was the only one of them who never treated her like she was made of glass.

Being at home was unbearable and being on the Rig was frustrating. So where else did she go?

She wanted to scream into her pillow at all the frustration, all the rage that had built up inside her. She didn’t have an outlet for it so she just had to let it sit and boil and simmer and ignore it until she felt more calm. Try to put some of her meditation techniques to good use and hope they worked.

She didn’t get the chance. The sound of shattered glass broke her from the breathing exercises her therapist had recommending. Her anger reached a fever pitch then just stopped. Like she’d reached a rage so powerful it rolled over into a state of zen. Peace. It was in this peace that she felt a new power within. She drew her finger across the air and didn’t blink at the jagged teeth that snapped open to reveal a pitch black portal of some kind. She stepped through without hesitation.

—————————————

Vista wasn’t afraid to find out what was on the other side of that gaping maw she’d opened in the middle of her room, but she didn’t know what to expect either. A brightly lit room with black stone floors and thrones with large numbers on them and a dark sky full of stars was the last think on her list. She’d have been less surprised if the portal took her straight to Sleeper.

Yet the room felt comfortable. It wasn’t too warm or cold for her and she didn’t feel anything off about the room the way she would in other extremely unfamiliar places. Hell, it was more comfortable than her room at her mothers house.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to do. She didn’t want to leave, so she walked slowly up the stairs and sat in the throne in the middle, looking up at the stars. It wasn’t even five minutes before a portal opened, knocking her from her thoughts. After a few seconds a girl walked through. She was tall long black hair and was opening a box of cigarettes. Her hoodie made her look bigger than she was even though it sagged off her like it was too big. She had a dull look in her eyes behind the glasses she wore that changed to surprise when their eyes met. Neither spoke for a long moment, the older girl frozen with her cigarette just inches from her mouth.

Finally, she moved, lighting it with a snap of her fingers.

“You’re in my seat.” She said dully, walking up the stairs.

“What?” Vista asked, confused.

“You’re in my seat.” She repeated, blowing the smoke away from the younger girl.

“How do you know?” Vista shot back.

“You see that number on the back of it?” She pointed just above Vista’s head and she turned to look at the number carved into the comfortable stone seat.

“What of it?” She asked as she turned back.

“It corresponds to the seats owner.” She raised her left hand, showing the number “1” tattooed on the back of it. “That one is mine.”

“Oh… Sorry.” Vista stood from the chair, letting the older girl take her seat.

“Don’t worry about it. So, how’d you get here? Someone let you in or…?” She trailed off to let Vista explain if there was one.

“I came by myself. I was at home and felt this urge to come here.” Vista explained.

The older girl nodded. “That’s how it happens. You’re welcome to take a seat. You are one of us, apparently. The only ones that aren’t claimed are two and six. The number should be on your upper body somewhere.”

“I have a tattoo?!” She shouted. She was worried about how she’d possibly be able to hide something like that. “How do I get rid of it?”

“Can’t.” She shrugged. “It just shows up with your powers.”

“Powers?!” The shout was more exasperation than worry this time.

“Yup. Powers. Along with a few other nifty things.” She smiled wryly.

“Can you explain this to me plainly?” Vista sighed, calming herself. She was too young to have an aneurysm.

“I’m not sure how to explain it. I know our powers are conceptual but not where they come from or how we got them. I do know they’re different from parahuman powers. I’ve had mine since January. Everyone else got theirs more recently.”

That made the cogs start turning in Vista’s head. A group of capes with too many powers to be regular Capes that showed up recently.

“You’re with the Espada.”

“Got it in one.” She snapped.

“If you had your powers since January, why didn’t you do anything with them? Most Capes can’t wait to get out into the field and start fighting.”

She shrugged again. “I wasn’t sure what to do with myself. I had some stuff to work out and I wanted to test my powers before I made any moves. I waffled because I knew there would be more people and didn’t want to start anything until at least someone else showed up. They did a while ago and we started the Espada.”

“Okay… So I have the same powers as you do now?”

“Roughly. There are base things we have and then our specialized powers. By PRT ratings our basic power set is Brute, Blaster, Mover. That’s what you have access to before you find your personal powers.”

“That’s a lot.” Vista said, looking down to the ground. The Espada came off extremely powerful. Sacrosanct alone had a total rating of twenty two. She could take on twenty two separate squads of PRT agents and come out if basically unscathed. The preliminary Brute rating put them at three. It might be higher than that if what she was told was true.

“I guess so. I haven’t really thought about it.” She shrugged.

“Which one are you?”

“If you don’t know I’m not going to tell you. Unless you’re going to join us.”

“I can’t...” She feared what might happen but she wasn’t going to act like she could join them. She didn’t even know all that much about them.

“That’s fine.” The answer was noncommittal at best and spoken with almost no emotion.

“That’s it?”

“Yeah. I’m not going to force you to join if you don’t want to. Not my style.”

“Is that why there are only three of you but you said five of the seven seats are taken?”

“The other two have some personal things to handle before they can join full time.”

“Well…” Vista started, unsure where to go with the new sentence. “At least you’re good guys.”

The older girl gave a noncommittal hum.

“What? You are good guys right?” Vista felt her stomach knot at the idea she’d have to fight with the Espada. Even with similar powers she’d be out numbered and out gunned. She didn’t even know what she was capable of yet.

“We aren’t villains, but I wouldn’t call us good either. Our goals, ultimately, are good, but I’d consider us more… A force for change.”

Vista furrowed her brow at that. She didn’t quite understand what she meant by change. It was broad and open to a lot of interpretation.

“What do you mean?” She asked.

“I mean our goal is to change the state of the city. The city is dying. Our situation isn’t unique, but we’re one of the worse off cities. Gangs are allowed to do as they please and it’s only speeding things up.”

“But there’s only so much the heroes can do.” Vista started.

“I know.” The girl said before she could continue. “There’s only so much the heroes and PRT are capable of doing. It’s why the city is the way it is. The heroes can try, but they’re ultimately not there to help. They’re there to maintain a balance. To keep the status quo.”

“You can’t really believe that!” Vista shouted. “It’s not like they just sit around all day letting things happen! They’re all doing their best to keep the city safe.”

The look she got in return was impassive, but it felt cold.

“I never said that they weren’t. I said the PRT and Protectorate, as a whole, is there to maintain the balance. Prison for villains is basically a revolving door. Sometimes it looks like a big game of cops and robbers. Capes who do enough really bad shit get the Birdcage if someone doesn’t bother to help break them out. Hookwolf hasn’t been caged yet despite the fact he should. Same with Lung. Both should probably have kill orders on them by now. Same with tons of other capes. Even worse, the laws are skewed in such a way that for most Capes the only option is the Protectorate or being a villain. Very few people get to be rogues. I didn’t really have a reason why until I started thinking about it. Enbringers. The Endbringer truce has villains fighting along side heroes. It’s about the only time you can get them to do so. So, of course, by letting enough villains stay free instead of caging them all, they have more bodies to throw at the Endbringers. Lives that aren’t the “good guys”.” Her tone was casual. Almost dismissive. Like she was sure of every word that left her mouth and had accepted it as a fact.

“There’s no way that’s true.” Vista ground back. “There are just too many villains. The heroes are outnumbered and can’t afford to make large strikes against the gangs. It would cost them too much.”

“My point wasn’t just here in the Bay. It’s all of the PRT. They aren’t aiming to stop villains. They’re aiming to keep them to a manageable level and deter them from getting too out of hand. Then you have dudes like Lung, Kaiser, and Hookwolf who are strong enough that they can do what they want with no repercussions. I want you to take a good hard look at the state of the city and tell me the heroes are effective. Look at the people who avoid downtown like the plague for fear of the Empire. Look at how many Empire members there are, a gang that routinely holds lynchings and requires members to at least hospitalize people they see as sub human to progress in the ranks, and tell me the heroes are effective. I want you to look at the missing persons list, at how many girls and boys are kidnapped and sold off because of the ABB and tell me the heroes are effective. Hell, go wider. Look at the Elite. Look at the Nine. Look at the Fallen, who kidnap people to bolster their numbers. Take in the state of the world and tell me how effective the heroes are at actually being heroes. They help people, yes, but it’s a reactive job. They do what they can and what they can do isn’t enough.” The more she talked the more intense her voice got. She wasn’t yelling, but there was actual emotion in her voice by the time she finished.

“I…” Missy stopped. As much as she wanted to she could tell her she was wrong. Even her own experiences with the Wards backed up her words. She grit her teeth and clenched her fists as the frustration of being useless returned to her.

The girl sighed, blowing out a cloud of smoke, and sank into her seat.

“Sorry. I’m not trying say the heroes are useless or anything. I do think they’re trying to help in the long run, just that their methods aren’t working. And that’s why we’re trying to take it into our own hands. To carve out the peace we crave for our little slice of the world. Get rid of the gangs, and keep new ones from moving in. That’s our goal.” She explained.

Vista relaxed. “Do the other members share your view?” She asked quietly. She wasn’t sure she liked people with such pessimistic views of the world being so strong.

“Not necessarily. They all have different reasons for why they joined, but they ultimately can see what I see without me having to explain it to them. A city slowly rotting away in dire need of a cure. We’re all working towards a cure. Even if we don’t see eye to eye on how we get there, it’s where we’re going.”

“The ends justify the means.” Vista said.

“Something like that.”

Vista was silent for a few seconds before taking a deep breath. “I think your mindset is leaning towards dangerous and you’re pessimistic and that you should try to look on the brighter side of things. However, I, unfortunately, can’t say you’re entirely wrong and you’ve given me some things to think about. I’m gonna go home and sleep on it for a little while. Figure out how I feel about it.”

“You’re welcome any time. Not like I can stop you.” She joked.

“Before I go, I never got your name.”

“I never said it. What’s yours?”

“Missy.”

“Taylor.”

“Well, Taylor, I’m going to go home and sleep now. Good night.”

“Night, Missy.”

Vista, once home, was glad to hear her parents had stopped arguing. She crawled into her bed and lied there staring at the ceiling for what felt like hours. Her brain was clogged with conflict. Taylor's words and her experiences as a Ward vs her desire to be a hero and work to save people with the Protectorate. Even as she drifted off to sleep she felt the conflict rage inside her heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't remember if I mentioned Taylor's glasses. She picked up a nonprescription pair so no one would notice. And yes, Vista facing down Hookwolf, getting stabbed, and stitching her own wound shut is canon, for those that didn't know that.


	22. Interlude 2.d

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: This was supposed to be 2.5, but I didn't have anything for Taylor to do during the day, so it ended up being an Interlude. It also ended up far, far longer than I was expecting. I got stuck a few times, but I think I handle the conflict in this one pretty good. I'm still trying to figure out how I'm writing OP characters without everything being a curbstomp, but its working so far.

Despite having a room in the Loft that all but one of the Undersiders shared, Alec tended to sleep in the living room. This wasn't usually by choice, more a by product of staying up late playing video games. He would play until he passed out because there just wasn't anything better to do. When they weren't planning jobs or doing jobs he found himself with little to do that he actually enjoyed. It wasn't major point of contention, but it did often lead to him just trying to sleep a day away. Such as he was trying to do now.

"Come shopping with me." Lisa said.

"Don't wanna." Alec replied lazily, not bothering to open his eyes.

"I wasn't asking."

"Do I at least get something out of it?"

"I'll pay for your lunch." Her voice got distant as she went into the kitchen to make her usual morning cup of coffee.

"I meant something more intimate."

"Well you can certainly go fuck yourself. I'm not doing it for you."

"Coward. Do your dirty work yourself." Alec yawned as he sat up. He immediately felt a burning pain in his hands and tried to shake it out before he realized what it was. "Stop it, you asshole!"

"It's what you deserve." Lisa smirked at him.

Alec narrowed his eyes, ignoring the pain in his hand, and cut off feeling in her legs, laughing to himself as she dropped to the floor.

"Alec, you asshole! What if I dropped my coffee on myself?!"

"Not my problem. Stop the pain or I'll take your arms next." He threatened.

"Fine, fine… Fucking…" Lisa trailed off and used the counter to shakily make her way to her feet.

"When are we leaving?"

"Twenty minutes." She sighed as she steadied herself properly and finished making her coffee.

"Fine."

—

Brockton Bay may have been a massive shit hole, but the one thing it had going for it was being a coastal city. Alec liked the ocean, but it wasn't something he got to enjoy growing up in Quebec. Heartbreaker made his compound in Montreal, which was on a river, but it wasn't the same. The river was nice but didn't have the salty breeze or the sound of crashing waves that came with the ocean. It was probably the only thing he really enjoyed about Brockton Bay.

"How do I look in this?" Lisa asked, knocking him from his musings of the nearby body of water. He looked to see his blonde friend in a knee length brown skirt and emerald green blouse. He barely gave her more than a glance before looking back out the window across the store.

"Amazing. Very fuckable. Ten out of ten." He drawled. She scoffed in mild disgust.

"Why is it always sex with you?" She asked hotly.

Alec gave a dismissive shrug.

"Of course." She shook her head. "I'm done for now. Let me buy this stuff and we'll find a place to eat."

"Kay." He stood to stretch and waited in line for her. The store wasn't crowded, but the less time spent there the better. Once they finally left the shop they went walking down the boardwalk looking for a place to eat. Fugly Bob's was out of the question. Good as the food was, he didn't feel like reeking of grease until he took a shower.

"Oh, hey." A voice Alec vaguely recognized said from behind them.

"Madison…" Lisa said calmly. There was a slight edge to her voice you'd only hear if you knew her and Alec knew that edge well.

"Ah." Alec nodded.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in school?"

Madison nodded and shrugged. "Taylor canceled our training session for today so I figured I'd just ditch out. Not like I enjoy my afternoon classes."

"Well you might as well join us. At least I can talk about boys with you." Alex shrugged.

Madison's brow furrowed and her head tilted to the side. "Are you gay?" She asked pensively, trying not to sound offensive.

Lisa let out a sharp bark of a laugh. "Alec will fuck anything vaguely humanoid."

"A hole's a hole and every hole's a goal." He nodded.

"Jesus Christ." Lisa sighed. "You could not have said that in a more gross way."

"Yeah, that was pretty gross." Madison grimaced.

"Well, if you've got money, might as well join us for lunch." Lisa sighed.

Madison was silent as they trawled the Boardwalk looking for a place to eat. They eventually settled on a decent looking Mexican place. The conversation was light until the food came.

"I haven't liked New England Mexican food since I had it in Texas." Madison sighed. "It's just not the same."

"That's to be expected." Lisa said. "We have pretty good Chinese and Japanese food here, though. Not as good as what I heard they have in California, but still."

"It's worse for me. Imagine being so close to Canada and not having good Poutine. It's a crime." Alec shook his head. It really was a shame. American Poutine just didn't stack up to what he liked. "Can't even get Maple Taffy or Ketchup Chips down here. There's a place that sales Beaver Tails up north but it's too far to bother with."

"Ketchup chips?" Madison asked.

"It's weird Leaf food, don't worry about it."

"Ketchup chips are good." Alec defended. "And don't call me a Leaf you fucking Burger."

"Syrup chugger."

"Yank."

"At least we got independence from the Queen of England."

Alec opened his mouth, but closed it back. He didn't actually have anything for that. Due to a weird technicality Canada was still beholden to England. They didn't act on it, they had their own problems, but British Parliament still had some say in Canadian policy changes.

This didn't change the fact that Lisa's smile was too smug for his liking.

"Cunt."

"I'd be offended if I hadn't won." She said, shit eating grin still spread across her face. Alec rolled his eyes and went back to his food.

"Can I ask a question?" Madison asked.

"I don't date." Alec said quickly.

"Wait, weren't you just talking about sex earlier?"

"They're different." Lisa cut in. "You want to know why Taylor is so comfortable with me, right?"

"Uh, yeah." Madison nodded.

"Well the short answer is I didn't help torture her for a year and half." Lisa shot, making Madison wince. "Doesn't matter that it was out of fear or that you regret it now. She's going to have trouble really accepting you as more than a casual acquaintance because of your history. Hell, I barely trust you."

"That's reasonable, unfortunately." She sighed.

Alec observed the conversation quietly. He knew Lisa knew he was interested, but she'd never say anything about it. Contrary to how he acted, Alec was actually rather attentive when he wanted to be. He could read people rather well when he felt like putting in the effort and he'd gotten a decent read on most of the people around him. Madison was the exception. He couldn't quite figure out what her deal was. She seemed to change moods like the weather. She could go from happy to blank slate in the blink of an eye and it made very little sense to him at first. But he'd figured out and he was going to ask her about it.

"Just make better choices." Lisa started. "If you really want my advice, and I know you do, you're on the right path. Taylor has started to trust me because I'm straight with her. I tell her the truth about my plans and intentions and never give her the run around or try to talk circles around her. She appreciates people being upfront because she's too used to subterfuge and lies. The cloak and dagger shit you and your friends pulled is what she expects out of people and the more someone tries to feed it to her the farther away she'll push them. As long as you don't push her before she's ready and continue being honest with her she'll eventually let you in."

"So she's like a cat?" Madison said slowly.

"Kinda." Lisa shrugged. "You do have to nudge her a bit, she'd never open up to anyone otherwise, but you can't push her on it. She's not the type of person to open up easily. She keeps the parts of herself she cares about walled off and getting past those walls takes effort."

"Taylor talks pretty easily though. She told me about the music she likes last night."

Lisa shook her head. "Taylor doesn't like opening up about her emotions. They're the soft fleshy bits that can still feel and she keeps them under lock and key. Anything else? Fair game. She'll talk and talk and talk about anything and everything and never actually _say anything_ of any actual importance about herself. Her favorite brand of ice cream, what music she likes or dislikes, or her opinions on things aren't important to her. Those things don't matter. They aren't deeply personal things like her attachment to certain stories or certain types of tea over others. If or when she starts talking to you about something mundane and inconsequential sounding is when you've gotten into her good graces."

"Okay. I understand that. I appreciate the help." Madison smiled and nodded.

Alec looked to Lisa and twitched his eyebrows. She rolled her eyes but nodded, excusing herself to the restroom for a bit.

"How do you do that thing with your emotions?" Alec asked once Lisa was out of vision. He knew it'd be hard to make her leave hearing distance, but not seeing her was the next best thing. Out of sight, out of mind, after all.

Her expression fell for just a split second before she tilted her head in confusion.

"What thing?" She asked innocently.

"Cut the shit. I know faked emotions very well. It took me longer to figure out on you. I want to know how you do it."

Madison's eyes fell dull and her face became impassive.

"Why do you want to know?" Her voice was empty. Not cold, he noticed. Cold would imply there was still something there. Her voice was as flat and neutral as he'd ever heard.

"It's not that I care." He stuffed some chips and guacamole in his mouth. "But I'm curious. I've never seen anyone fake emotions so well outside of movies, and even then you know they're acting."

She hummed, her dull eyes never leaving his casual face as he ate.

"It's easy to put my emotions on because I've been doing it for months. I didn't at first, but then my "friends" at school started asking what was wrong with me. Why I was so quiet and subdued. That's when I realized just how dull everything was. But those girls are sharks and if they smell blood in the water you're doomed. So I started small, plastering on a smile," She pushed her cheeks up into a smile, "Then I started faking anger. Then confusion. Then I was faking pretty much everything. I eventually got to a point where I was faking my emotions so well I didn't realize that I had basically stopped feeling. I'm not _incapable_ of emotion, but everything is so muted it might as well not be there. I tend to overplay what I should be feeling because I find it's more believable that way, ironically."

"You overplay them and people think that's how you actually emote?" The notion was ridiculous, but if it worked for her then who was he to call it stupid?

"It's been working so far. I don't have people asking if I'm depressed all the time." She shrugged.

"Are you?"

"Can't be depressed if you can't properly feel."

"Isn't that depression in and of itself?"

"Under different circumstances, probably."

"I'm back." Lisa said, approaching the table. Seeing Madison snap on a happy-neutral expression was almost startling. Creepy to say the least. "Hope you weren't talking about me behind my back. That'd be bad for both of you."

"We weren't. Alec was just asking me about my make up." Madison answered.

Alec choked on his drink and even Lisa was stunned for a moment. Alec knew he thought it was clever, but she wasn't sure how Lisa felt about the double speak other than shocked. When she recovered she looked at him and he shrugged, saying she should roll with it. Then she smirked.

"As long as you feel comfortable, who am I to judge."

She thought that was a dig.

"Damn right. I know I'm beautiful, bitch. Don't hate."

Lisa rolled her eyes, but it got a giggle out of Madison. They parted ways after lunch, Madison heading a different way and Lisa still wanting to shop.

—

Going out twice in one day was a real pain in the ass. He barely had two hours to play some games before Brian dragged them all back out again to help him pick out stuff for his apartment, which ended up taking even longer because Lisa wanted to buy stuff for her apartment too. He didn't even know why she had one. She hated being alone almost as much as someone insulting her intelligence. By the time they got back to the Loft they were almost half an hour later than they were supposed to be.

"Bitch isn't here." Brian said. "Only two of her dogs are here."

"Well, we are late. She probably took one on a walk." Lisa offered.

"Maybe. Suit up. We're late enough as it is for our drop off. Any later and it'll reflect badly on us."

They all split into their rooms to get changed. Alec slipped on his costume and just slid a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt over it. No point in dressing in anything fancy since they were gonna drop the clothes anyway.

"She's still not back." Brian said once they were back in the living room.

"You think she made the drop without us?" He asked.

Lisa sighed. "Probably. Let's get to the locker."

The ditched their regular clothes a few blocks from the hideout and made their way to the drop point.

The storage facility they were supposed to drop the money at was just outside the Trainyard. Maybe a block, if that. The place was large enough that part of it crossed the border. It was a large maze of ten by ten foot lockers largely forgotten about by the rest of the city. Some people still bothered to keep things there, and the homeless people who could afford it used some of them as dorms, but the expansive facility was largely desolate.

There was a word for it, Alec knew, but it escaped him for the moment. The place looked wrong, especially at night. So many broken lights that some of the alleys only got the barest bleed off from the brighter lights further away. The atmosphere of the place was like walking into a different dimension. Like exploring an abandoned hospital. It was just wrong and creepy.

"We're looking for thirteen-oh-six." Grue said.

Actually finding the locker wasn't difficult, despite how large and creepy the place was. When they opened the locker they found nothing. Alec was the first to speak.

"I saw we kill her." He spoke casually.

"You really think she'd run off with the money?" Grue asked.

"If you had asked me an hour ago, I'd have said no. She may be reckless, a loose canon, crazy even. I'd have said she may not like people, but I'd have said she was loyal and she wouldn't have thrown away whatever relationship we have. Now, though…" he shrugged, feeling he got his point across. He may not be emotionally attached to his teammates but he liked to think they cared as much as he tried to. Even Bitch.

"Bitch didn't run off with the cash." Tats said, eyes zipping all over the unit, devouring and dissecting every bit of information she could process. "Someone broke in. A cape. Picked the lock. Whoever it did it is still nearby." She paused for a second, something in her eyes shifting. "There." She pointed to the top of the line of units across from us just as someone started clapping.

"Brilliant deduction, Tattletale." The voice spoke as he stopped clapping. Two people stepped into view.

Uber and Leet. Those losers barely rated on the bottom of B-list villains. They were dressed in blue leotards over skintight white bodysuits. They had bubblegum pink shoes, gloves, and antennae along with blank masks with black eye lenses.

"Oh," The relief in Tats' voice was easy for him to hear, "Uber and Leet. And here I thought it was someone to worry about."

With what experimentation Alec had done with his new powers, he was pretty sure most of the capes in the city weren't an actual threat anymore. He alone could drop most of them with a flick of a finger, let alone how tough he was now. Five Finger Fillet was boring when the knife just bent if you screwed up. He knew Lisa knew as well, she'd probably figured out the extent of their toughness before he had, but she was playing coy with her powers. Something about not trusting their boss. He understood that, distrusting your boss was a lesson carved deep into his soul, but he wasn't sure he understood what her plan was in the long run.

"Oh believe me, you do." Uber announced. The jackasses power made him sound like a move trailer announcer. He couldn't even pick something even slightly more intimidating than that?

"What game are you guys even doing this time? Your costumes are too ugly for me to look at long enough to figure it out." Alec taunted. They scowled, and when Uber opened his mouth to speak he swung his hand, making them both lose their footing and shutting off the feeling in their legs. They tumbled off the roof and hit the concrete across from them pretty hard. Lisa laughed, but Grue was in "Professional Mode" so didn't say anything. "I'm glad they got that on video."

"It'll make a good clip." Lisa said as they walked over to the fallen villains, both writing in pain.

"Where's our money and how's you find out?" Grue asked, his power making his voice more intimidating than it should have been.

"Your fourth team member led us right to it. Lucky happenstance really. As for how we found her. Well…" Uber trailed off.

"They got Bitch and the money. We need to find her quick and get out of here. Something feels off about this." Grue said too low for the other villains to hear.

"You're right." Tats nodded. "There are a ton more people here than they let on. We grab Bitch, the money, and go."

"How can you tell?" Alec asked.

"Illusion power. I didn't figure out what it was until we got here but I have a sort of map in my head that tells me where the people in my illusion range are. I didn't notice before because there were too many people to see that detail."

"I wish my new powers let me do that." He sighed. That'd be super useful.

"Figure out your new powers later. Can you lead us to Bitch without us needing to interrogate them?" Grue asked.

"Yeah." She nodded.

"Then let's go." Grue covered their camera, the "Snitch", in darkness and nodded to Alec.

"Well," Alec spoke loud enough for the whispering duo to hear, "It's been real, it's been fun, but it hasn't been real fun. So we're gonna go ahead and take off. Later losers." He reached for his new power and did something new with it. He gave them back their sense of touch, but in exchange wrecked their perception of time. As far as they were concerned the next hour would feel like a hundred years.

"What did you do to them?" Tats asked as they made off for their last team member.

"Scrambled their sense of time. It'll probably take them fifteen minutes to even move a finger. We're good for an hour." He explained.

"That's pretty brutal." Grue said.

"If I combined it with Tats' pain thing we could probably accomplish something similar to Gray Boy's bubbles." He said casually like the idea wasn't terrifying.

"Please don't do that to anyone."

"You say that like I'd actually help him do it." Tats scoffed. "Shit." She said quietly as a car engine roared just around the corner.

They had barely made it down to the end of aisle they were in before being ambushed by a woman in the same ridiculous outfit as Uber and Leet, only she was wearing a gas mask with red lenses instead of black.

"Hold it." A mechanical voice called from behind them. "Take another step and all of you end up as… well, it depends on what bomb you're standing near." With no indication the area across from them burst into glass, the blast radius stopping just before it hit Grue.

"Holy fuck." Grue said lowly.

"Ah, that one." She said dully to herself. "I'd like it more if it were more destructive. It's certainly impressive if you're not me, but I like a little more bang. The glass transmutation bombs are just too clean."

"Fuck me, of course the game theme was Bomberman. What are you doing here, Bakuda?" Tats asked.

Bakuda stood and gave a theatric bow, but dropped to her knees before Alec could throw her off.

"Ah, ah, ah. You won't get me with that." She said mockingly. He wasn't sure it was possible to be more smug than Lisa, but she was surely making an effort.

"Did you seriously leave the ABB to work for those losers?" Alec gestured to Uber and Leet, still on the ground trying their best to move and failing.

"Ah, not exactly." She snapped her fingers and a unit door opened and three men walked out. One with a gun, the second with a bat, and the third with an Axe. Then the other doors opened, thirty or forty storage units all with at least one person and some had up to five. All of them were armed.

Had this happened before he got his new powers, Alec probably would've been at least a little scared. Too many people to disarm at once and a crazy bitch who set off bombs seemingly telepathically. It would be a very bad situation if he wasn't as close to invincible as Alexandria was.

"Those two were cheap hires. They just wanted a few hundred bucks and I had to wear this costume. Guess you really get what you pay for." She sighed.

"Well, at least you make it work better than they do." Alec commented.

"I'm afraid flattery will get you nowhere, though who am I to deny a compliment." Bakuda put a hand to her chest in mock bashfulness. "As I was saying, I'm still with the ABB. In charge, in fact. I would've like to commemorate my new leadership by taking out the people who captured Lung, but the Espada are surprisingly difficult to get a bead on. So I'll have to settle for the ones who put him into that position in the first place." She took a second to stare them down, then spoke in the most serious voice she had since she showed up, "Get them."

The ABB members charged and Tattletale was the first to start running.

"What the hell, Tats?" Alec asked as they dipped around a corner to avoid a bomb going off. "We could easily take them out. Why are we running?"

"Well, I know why I'm running." Grue said as he spread his darkness around to make them harder to get to.

"I need time to think. I don't know where her bombs are or what they do. I need to figure out how she's setting off her bombs. If we fuck this up she might turn this whole place into a crater and we don't have Sacrosanct here to keep us from whatever fucked up shit her bombs can do. She was genuinely surprised by that glass bomb. That means she doesn't know exactly what they do after she builds them, she just does."

"Well that's fucked." Alec said.

"Very." Grue agreed.

"Stop." Tats ordered, pulling everyone against the wall.

Grue noticed the jeep turn the corner just after they pressed to the wall.

"I know you're here, Undersiders!" Bakuda called playfully. "Come out and play, kiddies!"

The jeep drove slowly past them before turning the next corner.

"That bitch is capital "C" Crazy." Alec said.

"Megalomania and a God complex will usually do that to you." Tats said before they started again.

"Are we going to Bitch?" Grue asked.

"Yeah. Once we grab her it will be easier to get out. Hopefully without having to actually confront her."

Just as she finished explaining they heard a click. They dived for it, trying to get away from the explosion, only to get pulled towards the epicenter. The pull wasn't powerful enough to drag them off their feet, but it did keep them from running, or crawling, away. The pull stopped for just a split second before exploding outward in a blast large enough it cratered the ground a good three feet.

The sound of the Jeep engine stopped a few feet away from them.

"Drop the darkness. I know you're here. You're not getting away. I've trapped the whole area." Bakuda said.

"Drop it. I might still be able to get us out of this." Tattletale said. The darkness slowly faded to reveal Bakuda and her small army, all pointing guns at them.

"You know, I honestly didn't expect you to make it this far. I thought you idiots would've set off far more of my traps than you did. I guess good job on not being complete idiots." Bakuda mocked.

"You were toying with us." Tats said. Things that should be questions were usually statements with her. The need to be the smartest person in the room at least made it so they could cut out the middle man and didn't have to wait for confirmation of most things.

"You're very right." Bakuda spoke. Her mask made it difficult to convey tone, her words coming out very flat and robotic, but she more than made up for it with the unbearable aura of smug that surrounded her and body language. "Though I think you, specifically, should shut up. Boys?" She placed her hand on the head of an ABB member in front of her jeep, making him flinch. "If the blonde so much as opens her mouth, shoot them all. I don't care what the others say, but she keeps quiet."

Tats narrowed her eyes and drew her lips into a thin line. Her ability to speak, until recently, had been her biggest weapon. Now she could throw out lasers that brought down buildings, but she was still acting like she couldn't, so it wasn't of any help here. Alec was content to go with the flow for now. If she wasn't showing her hand, neither would he. Not until he was sure their boss wouldn't fuck them over.

"See," Bakuda straightened up, putting a foot on the jeep door and leaning forward with her elbows on her knee, "You're the one I don't get. No idea what your powers are. Maybe you alter moods as you talk, maybe you're just good at talking, either way you don't get to, kay?"

Yeah, the megalomania and God complex were certainly present. Alec had spent enough time around people like that to know.

"Now, I've found myself with a bit of a problem." Bakuda stood up, looking at the back of her hand like she could examine her nails through the gloves. God did this bitch love to hear herself talk. "Lung taught me a lot of things, but the only lesson I really took to heart was that being an effective leader is all about _fear_. Business like this? People are only truly loyal when you drown them in enough fear. If they're sufficiently scared of you they stop worry about what they can get out of it. Stop wondering if they can usurp you. With enough fear they do what they can to keep you happy. Or keep you from being unhappy. Whichever one keeps them alive longer."

She hopped down from the jeep, grabbing one of the men by the back of the head and shaking him slightly. "Isn't that right?" She asked equal parts playful and threatening. That was a skill. The man mumbled something under his breath. "But it goes further than that. I may have inherited the ABB, but I also inherited Lung's enemies. So, the question becomes what can I do to you that will instill enough fear in them that they won't fuck with me? What act of violence, malice, strength, anything really, will show them that I am not the bitch to bare your fangs at unless you want your whole block literally turned to glass?"

She spun around, putting her hand out to the man next to her. He quickly gave her the gun and she walked through the crowd of people, examining them.

"You have a plan yet?" Grue asked. Tattletale shook her head. Alec could see her brain working as fast as it could, figuring out the best way to get out of this without revealing themselves too blatantly. The hidden bombs and Bakuda's trigger for them was the problem that prevented them from just going. It was times like this he really wished he could just let his powers loose without worrying. With what he could do now they'd be done with her in a blink and he could be home. But no—.

"You!" Bakuda stopped in front of a teen wearing a uniform Alec realized was from that one Catholic school in town. "Park Jihoo, yes? You ever held a gun before?"

"N-no."

"Ever beat someone up?"

"Please I… No."

"Ever been a fight? And I mean a real one. The kind of fight where you're scrambling for anything and everything to win."

"N-no, Bakuda."

"Then you're perfect for this." She shoved the gun into his chest. "Shoot one of them." She ordered.

The boy held the gun like it was a rancid diaper, held at arms length with two fingers. The fear in his eyes was easy to see. The kid looked ready to pass out.

"Please, I can't."

"I'm make it easy for you." Bakuda might have tried to coo or something and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "It doesn't even have to be a lethal shot. Aim for a kneecap or something. Just wait a sec, Okay?" She turned to another person, "Get the camera and start recording."

The man followed her orders, getting to the jeep and pulling out a camera. Once it was recording Bakuda turned back to the kid.

"Thank you for wait, Park Jihoo. Now you can shoot someone."

The guy spoke in Korean, probably praying, then said "Please, no."

"Are you sure?" Bakuda cooed. "They're bad people if you're worried about morals. No one will miss them."

Grue twitched slightly at that.

The kid blinked back tears and dropped the gun.

"I'll take that as a no. Shame." Bakuda sighed. "You're of no use to me." She kicked him hard enough to send him sprawling on his back.

"Please!" He shouted desperately. "Please, no! No, no, no!"

Bakuda skip-stepped away from him and the others took that as a sign to get away too. Then, the boy melted.

"Jesus, fuck…" Grue said lowly.

The guy just died. Dissolved into flesh soup at the drop of a hat with no indication but a sound similar to a vibrating cellphone. He was there one second and a puddle the next. The people around him scrambled away, all screaming and trying to hide behind one another.

There was a sound, difficult to hear over all the screaming, but everyone was eventually silenced by the sound of a gunshot. The sound was louder now. It sounded like the rusty wheeze of dying machinery trying its best to keep doing what it was made for. Everyone turned to Bakuda, doubled over with her arms wrapped around her stomach.

Well, if the bitch wanted to terrify people, she was certainly doing a good job. Anything that managed to give Alec the chills was beyond fucked by its very nature.

"Oh man! The six-eighteen! I forgot all about that thing! Oh, it's perfect! So much better than I imagined!"

"That was pretty cool." He spoke, drawing as many wide eyes as Bakuda's laughing. He sounded completely unbothered by the sight. And he honestly was. He'd seen worse in his short life, and it was really her laughing that brought the situation to disturbing. He could see Lisa still thinking. This was the best way to buy her a bit more time.

"Wasn't it?" Bakuda asked with presumably a smile. "I modeled it after Tesla work with vibrations. He theorized—."

"Yeah, no offense," Alec cut in, "Well, I don't care if I offend you, but what I mean is don't shoot me, I don't care about all the sciencey technobabble. Goes right over my head. I was just saying it's pretty neat to see what a dude smoothie looks like. Gross, creepy, fucked up, but still pretty neat."

"Yes it is!" Bakuda said, basking in the praise. "It's like the answer to a question you didn't know you were asking!"

"So how'd you do it? Stick bombs in all these civilians to make them work for you?"

"Everyone." She answered, almost high off the attention for her work. She skipped and turned, pulling a man close and patting his cheek lightly. "Even the most loyal of my men. Real bitch of a job. Not the procedure, I mean, I could do it with my eyes closed after the first twenty. I actually did a few that way, just to try it out." She released the man and took center stage again. "I mean tranq-ing the first dozen was real tedious. Opening peoples heads up lost its novelty surprisingly fast."

"Sounds like work. I'm too lazy for something like that."

"Got it." Lisa said. No one reacted to her talking.

"We're good?"

"Yeah. Her bombs are activated with something in her shoe. If you slow her down like you did with Uber and Leet we'll be long gone before she's able to set off even the first bomb. Is there a way to do it so she doesn't notice?"

"I haven't been doing it long enough to know. Let's grab bitch first. Do you think the door is trapped?"

"Probably. But we can just Garganta in."

"They can be used like that?"

"I know, right?"

"Hey, can we get going. I'd like to get away from the crazy bomb chick before she realizes something's off." Grue stated.

Tats responded by opening a portal. The stepped though to find Bitch and Brutus tied up, the money still in the duffel they stashed it in on a desk nearby.

"Took you long enough." Bitch said, once they got her down.

"Listen, we had to deal with that crazy chick outside trying to bomb us. Give us a break." Alec scoffed.

"Whatever. You guys beat her?"

"No, we came to grab you first. She's still out monologuing about how great she is." Tats explained.

"Of course she's one of those." Grue sighed.

"I hate people who talk too much." Bitch grunted. "Can we get out of here now?"

"Yeah, just one more thing to do." Alec said. He looked through the window to see the conscripted ABB members shakily aiming their guns where they used to be. He dropped them all, taking their sense of touch, then slowed Bakuda's perception of time to a crawl. "She should be out for at least the next two hours or so. If she manages to set off a bomb before then, I'll be surprised."

"Then let's get out of here. I need nap." Tats sighed.

"A-fucking-men, sister."

Alec opened the portal this time, taking them back to the base. They'd done enough Cape shit for the night. It was finally time to relax.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like Bakuda too much to cut her. She's also still integral for next arc, so she kind had to be here.


	23. Forge 2.5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: This chapter is slow as bread. Like, really, really slow. I like the ending though. There will be a fight next chapter. And this happens at approximately the same time as last chapter.

I had slept till noon. I wasn't feeling particularly tired, quite the opposite after my chat with Missy the night before, so I ended up staying up reading well past two in the morning. I was still half asleep when Madison called asking about our training session that day. I told her to we were taking a rest day so we'd be fresh for our raids that night. I didn't get around to her run until almost one.

"Hey Abby." I said, walking into the donut shop.

"You're late today. Anything happen?" Abby asked. She was sitting back reading a book and didn't bother to look up when the door opened.

"Stayed up late, slept late. I've only been up for less than an hour. I'll get a fritter this time. Usual drink."

"Staying up with boys already huh? Oh how you've grown." Abby smirked, getting up to get the order.

"No!" I said more forcefully than she meant to. "I was reading, if you must know. Didn't feel tired so did something else to occupy my time."

"I'll tell you what I told my kids when they were your age: As long as you don't end up pregnant, dead, or on drugs, you can do what you want." Abby said, putting the order on the counter.

"Seems like a really free range parenting style." I said, giving her the money. "Keep the change." I added, noting it was only a dollar and some change.

"Thanks." She nodded. "I think they turned out alright. My oldest moved up to Canada for a nice tech job. He was always the nerdy type. My daughter works in fashion."

"I'm glad they ended up doing what they like." I nodded. "I'm not sure what I'm gonna be doing as an adult."

"You got time to figure it out," She waved off the concern. "Some of the most interesting people I know are in their forties and don't know what they want to do with their life."

That got a chuckle out of me. "I just hope it's something I enjoy."

"That's all we can hope for. See you Monday."

"Monday." I said, heading for the door. "Bye, Abby."

Truthfully I didn't really need to get a donut, but it was routine. One I rather liked. Grab a donut from Abby three times a week on my morning run. It was the most consistently positive part of my life since I found her shop. Breaking it now just felt wrong. Like it would be a bad omen for things to come.

I spent most of the rest of the day in the Isolation World, which I had decided would be called "Vacio Mundo" after thumbing through a Spanish dictionary. I revised our plans and cased the safe houses I had planned for us to attack. I decided two per gang would be a good start. Maybe three for the Empire since they had the most we knew about.

After setting a plan in stone I went home to get dinner ready. I didn't really feel like cooking, I was still hurt from dads dismissive attitude on Wednesday, but he'd just try to cook himself or drink himself to sleep on an empty stomach, neither of which I wanted for him. So I threw together some chicken breast, rice, and roasted broccoli. A simple meal that required little seasoning and little work besides making sure I paid attention to the time.

I met the others in Las Noches at ten on the dot, both already in their outfits.

"You guys are early." I said.

"I'm surprised you weren't" Theo said.

"So, we have a plan right?" Madison asked.

"Yeah. I spent the day looking over our potential hit spots. The Merchant spots are pretty empty. Not much there except drugs and druggies. The ABB spots are mostly just cash drops. They seem like they might be heavily staffed, but they should be the easiest to hit after the Merchants. The Empire spots are the most heavily guarded but they have the least going on besides guns and money. From what I could tell they seemed to be heavily trafficked and filled with people. I say we start with the ABB. We could probably rob them blind and not have to worry about much since Lung is gone."

"The ABB first, huh?" Theo asked. "Yeah, I can see that."

I changed into my costume and slid my mask on. "Then let's get to it."

—

When we stepped from the portal above the ABB safe house, we found all but a few people ready to surrender. That was a surprising turn of events. While I could understand being terrified of people with bright yellow eyes stepping from a black hole in the sky, gang members were usually willing to at least stall long enough to get Cape support.

"Something is off here." I said. "Those people don't look like they want to fight."

"Let's go check." Samael said.

We stepped down to the ground. The safe house some derelict house in the South Docks that was tagged to hell with ABB colors. They didn't seem to be trying to hide it. There were people with guns standing guard in the front and back and some in the windows.

"Everyone inside, if you don't wish to fight, please drop your weapons." Samael called.

One of the people in the front and both in the back of the house dropped their weapons and laid down. The guy who hadn't dropped his gun aimed it at us and started to fire before finding Nihilus in front of him and the barrel of his gun bent.

"You shouldn't do that." She said. "I can't stand quick shots."

The man backed away and pulled a pistol from his waistband, which was promptly sliced in half by a gust of wind. The mans eyes widened and he put his hands up, dropping to his knees.

"This is going to go faster than I thought. I'll call the cops, you guys can finish up." I said.

"Got it." Samael took off to help Nihilus in the house.

I pulled out my phone and dialed the cops.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"We just busted an ABB safe house on Maple."

"And who's calling?"

"I'm a cape. Sacrosanct."

"Generally you would go through the PRT for this. Were there any other Capes on the scene?"

"No, just us. The weird thing is everyone surrendered really quickly. Like, almost all of them dropped their guns when prompted."

"That is odd. The police and PRT are on their way to your location. They should be there in about ten minutes."

"Alright."

I hang up and go to find the others. The inside of the house is stripped out with exposed wooden floors and barely any furniture. There are people on the ground tied with tape and guns on the floor.

"Samael, where are you guys?" I call out.

"Basement!" I hear back. I sink through the floor and find the others looking at a safe.

"We're trying to figure out how to get this safe open." Nihilus explained.

"Just rip the door off."

She grabbed the handle and pulled, almost tossing the metal safe door across the room.

"Oh…"

"So what's in it?"

"Lots of money." Samael answered.

"Cool. The cops will be here in a few. You guys can take off for the next spot while I wait for them."

"I'll go stake it out."

"I'll wait with you. No point in going if we aren't going to hit it." Nihilus shrugged.

"Fine."

Samael took the money to Las Noches before heading to the next spot while we gathered everyone up in the front. I was just about to adjust my mask to smoke when the PRT and cops showed up.

"ID!" One of the PRT officers called, foam sprayer aimed towards us.

"Friendly! Sacrosanct and Nihilus." I called back.

The troopers lowered their weapons and approached us.

"Alright, thanks for the call. Mind telling us how it went down?"

"We showed up and half the people were already ready to surrender. When we told them to, most of them did." Nihilus shrugged.

"That sounds too easy." The trooper said.

"That's what I said, not that I'm complaining." I said as my phone rang. "Hold on."I said, before answering. "What's up?"

"We might have a problem." Samael said.

"What do you mean a problem? A problem how?"

"I think they're using civilians."

"What?"

"I got to the next target and as I was looking around for security I spotted a kid I know from school. Dude avoids anything even tangentially related to the ABB like the plague. Gets top grades and all that. He's not the gang type. His family is well off and everything."

"Can you grab him?"

"Yeah, give me a second."

"Is everything alright?" The trooper asked.

"Samael is at our next target. Says he thinks they're conscripting civilians." I explained, partially annoyed. The troopers eyes widened slightly.

"Conscripting… Hey, Carter!" He called to one of his team.

"Yeah?" She called back.

"Grab one of the captures and ask him why he joined up."

"I'm back. He says Bakuda forced him. Something about bombs." Samael said.

"Samael says a cape named Bakuda is forcing people with bombs." I relayed.

"Bakuda… Shit. Get everyone we captured back to HQ for scanning immediately! You guys, avoid hitting the ABB for now. If these people really are strapped with bombs we won't be able to do anything if they get detonated in our base. We'll see if Armsmaster has something for it."

"Yeah." I nod. "Samael, we're done with the ABB for now. We don't know what Bakuda did and we can't hold anyone we capture until the PRT is able to."

"Got it. I'll meet you at the Merchant where house."

"Right." I hang up and turn to the trooper, "Don't get too comfortable. We'll have some Merchants for you guys in a bit."

He laughed at that. "Don't go too wild."

We left and stopped in the sky above a rotted out warehouse on the border of the Trainyard. Samael arrived just as we did.

"Alright, this place is pretty empty, but they tend to get a lot of druggies through here, so we'll probably not have a lot of fighting to do." I explain.

"That's fine. Three pronged entrance?" Samael asked.

"What's that?" Nihilus asked.

"It means we each take a different entrance. I'll take the front, One of you take the back and the other gets the second floor." I explained.

"I'll take the top floor." Samael said.

"Great. Get to your spot, count to ten, then go."

We broke up and got in position. Usually going through the front door is the distraction for everyone else. In my case, I was the sneaky one, since they'd react to the sound of Nihilus breaking through the back wall. I phased through the wall and knocked out the small group of Merchants that were heading toward the back room of the warehouse. They went down easy and half of them were too strung out to even stand properly.

"What the fuck?!" I heard a man shout from the back. "The fuck are you?! You think you can just bust up our shit and get away with it?"

I phased into the room to see Mush covering himself with trash while Nihilus had bubbles popping and breaking his garbage armor.

"Fuck you bitch! Stop that and come fight me!" He trash armor was smaller than he wanted it to be, but he was able to get enough to swing a long metal tendril at Nihilus, which was destroyed as it got closer to her.

"You got this?" I asked casually.

"Yeah, you go see what Samael is up to."

"Alright." I turned to leave and Mush was blasted through the wall. We made eye contact as he got up and I just Sonido'd to the second floor.

"That you Sacrosanct?" He called.

"Yeah. You find anything?"

"Back here! This place is a drug lab or something. I thought we were just hitting a distribution point."

I followed his voice and found him in a room with a chemical set.

"That's new. It wasn't here when I checked earlier." I said, confused. "I didn't think they were smart enough to start making their own drugs."

"I don't think anyone did. Should we leave it for the cops?" He asked.

"Probably. We gotta call the PRT though. Found Mush downstairs. Apparently he was sleeping in a pile of garbage. Nihilus is taking care of it."

"Huh. Okay. You know this is turning out a lot easier than I thought it would be." He said as we moved to a different room looking for any money.

"I know right? I figured we'd run into more opposition than this. The ABB conscripting civilians worked in our favor, much as I'd like to find Bakuda and stop her. Any idea where we might be able to get her?"

"No. All the Empire knew until recently was that Lung had a Tinker, but she hasn't been seen much. I don't think anyone but Lung knew her specialty."

"We're going to have to go after her. We definitely can't have people like her in the city. What kind of monster conscripts civilians under force? Targeting people down on their luck is one thing, but forcefully recruiting civilians is another. She should be a priority."

"Definitely." Samael said as we finished searching the last room. "I can't believe there's no money here."

"It's either well hidden or they picked it up already."

"Yeah. Let's go check on Nihilus."

We made it downstairs to find Mush stuck to the wall and none of his trash coming to him, dropping to the floor several feet before it could touch him.

"PRT are on the way." Nihilus said as we walked down.

"Great. We're heading to the next spot. You cool to wait for the cops?"

"Yup."

"Great. Let's go." I tap Samael. We leave out the hole Nihilus made in the back wall and head off to the next location.

This one is closer to the Downtown. We stop on the roof across from the building to look over the security it might have.

"Hey! Who are you?!" We hear a shout from behind us to see two blonde girls in white outfits. I recognize Glory Girl immediately and realize Laserdream was the one that shouted.

"Oh, I remember you! That's Sacrosanct. Me and Amy ran into her a while ago. I don't know the guy though, she had another girl with her last time." Glory Girl explained.

"The name's Samael."

"Sacrosanct and Samael." Laserdream said slowly. "Those are some weird names."

"The other one is named Nihilus. Where is she, by the way?" Glory Girl asked.

"Dealing with the PRT. We ran into Mush at the other Merchant spot we hit so she's dealing with that." I answer.

"You left her to deal with it alone? You sure she'll be okay?" Laserdream asked.

"She'll be fine. Nihilus can handle herself."

"If you say so. Were you guys planning on hitting this place?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Yup. Got a tip about it a while back and we only now got the chance to do anything about it. You guys wanna team up?"

"Sure." I shrug.

"I'm good with that."

"Great. This will be so easy now with four of us." Glory Girl pumped her fist.

"Five if Nihilus makes it in time. You know what's in there?" I asked.

"No. Just that there should be a bunch of people in there."

"Right, well, Security is heavier than I was expecting. Shouldn't be too long to clean up though."

And it was. We made quick work of the Merchants inside. There wasn't much to take and Merchants offered very little resistance.

"Well, that was easy." Glory Girl said.

"Yeah. I was actually thought we'd run into trouble this time." Samael said.

"Nihilus missed all the fun. That's too bad." Laserdream sighed sarcastically.

"She'll live." I said. "How do you want to split the cash?"

"Fifty-Fifty is good. It's the easiest way to split it." Glory Girl said.

"Sure."

"So are you guys done for the night?" Samael asked.

"Why? Wanna take us out for drinks?" Glory Girl teased.

"Well Laserdream could definitely hit me up." He said slyly.

"Aw, am I not pretty enough?" She joked.

"Aren't you dating Gallant?" I asked.

"We're not together right now." She pouted. "Stupid jerk."

"GG and Gallant are on again off again. I swear they break up like once a month." Laserdream rolled her eyes.

"It's not that often!"

"I was asking because we're hitting some Empire spots after this." Samael clarified.

"We might be able to go. I'd have to call mom first." Laserdream crossed her arms in thought.

"Well Nihilus just texted me she's waiting at one. Pick fast." I said.

"I have classes tomorrow." Glory Girl said.

"Okay. We'll sit this one out then. Good luck." Laserdream said as they flew off.

We met Nihilus at the first Empire safe house in downtown. It was a three story apartment building that looked like it was completely over run with Empire members.

"One per floor?" Nihilus asked.

"Yep. Go for it."

We all breached at the same time. I could hear gunfire on the other floors and that clued in the guys on the first floor.

"Shit, Cape!" One of them yelled. The others in ear shot all echoed the call and took up arms.

The first guy shot at me, but I phased through the buckshot and sliced his gun in half. I put him down with a palm to the jaw and tossed the broken half of the shot gun at the next person in my sight. I ran through the floor taking out all the gangers with little trouble. I felt a tinge of excitement in the pit of my stomach, which highlighted how supremely bored I was before.

I finally stopped when I thought I was done knocking them all out. I started back towards an earlier room where I saw a bag of zip ties to keep them all contained when I heard the cocking of a gun.

"Put your hands up and face me." The voice of an older man told me.

I turned to face the man, leaving my hands at my sides. I cocked my head to the side when I spotted him a few feet away holding a black shotgun.

"I said put your hands up!"

"I don't think I will." I said, taking a step towards him. He took a step back. "Oh? You think you can intimidate me when you can't even stand you ground? How am I supposed to believe you'll shoot me then?" I took another step forward and he inched back, forcing himself to stay in place.

"You don't know a damn thing, you stupid bitch. You're the one coming in here attacking honest folk!"

"Honest?!" I took another step forward. "You think killing people because they have a different skill color or sexuality is honest? You think dealing drugs and guns is honest?"

"You take another step I'll shoot you!"

"I take another step and you shoot me?"

"Yes."

I stepped forward, but he didn't fire.

"What's wrong? I thought you were gonna shoot if I took another step? Did I not go far enough? How about this?" I took a larger step forward. "No? What's wrong? Where'd all that bravado go?" I started walking forward and stop just at the end of the barrel. He's taller than me by a few inches, but he looks so small. "Still no? You need my help?" I grab the barrel an bring it towards the mouth par of my mask. "I'm giving you a free shot. Are you too pussy to take it? Let me guess, you joined a gang cause you thought it would make you feel like a big man, huh? Hows that working out for you, limp dick? You act all hard but you can't even shoot someone who's basically begging you to shoot her. That's probably why your wife left—." I was cut off by the sound of a gun shot. I didn't bother to phase through it and let the buckshot hit my mask.

We both were silent as I stared at him. He trembled and nearly dropped the gun.

I couldn't help but start giggling. His face sinking to despair made me start outright laughing.

"Touched a nerve, huh?" I said through my giggles.

"I'm sorry."

"I don't care." I grabbed his gun, which he let go without resistance and snapped it in half. I then picked him up and slammed him against the wall, knocking him out. I was about to go grab the zip ties again when I heard a loud blast from outside. A quick Sonido brought me out and up to the roof where Nihilus and Samael were looking up at a bright figure in the sky.

Samael was tense, like he was angry and had nothing to do with the frustration. Then he spoke, a single growled word that carried as much of his anger as it could.

"Purity."


	24. Interlude 2.e

There were a lot of ways Theo had expected this night to go. He expected it to give him a chance to test his powers. He expected it to be a bit boring, which it was in spades until the Empire house they hit. He expected it to be fun, which it wasn't. He expected he might learn something new about his powers, which he didn't. Hell, he expected both that things would go smoothly and that they would get a challenge. The former was true, the latter wasn't. The one thing he could say with certainty that he didn't expect out of this night was to be facing down his step mother in their Cape personae.

He knew Kayden was still racist, but he had hope that she'd change for Aster. He'd been hoping her leaving the Empire was a change for the better. One that would take a long time, but still a good change. Yet here she was, seemingly defending an Empire safe house. He couldn't help but feel angry. He thought she was doing better and she goes and does something like this.

"What are you doing here, Purity?" Sacrosanct asked blandly from behind them. He didn't take his eyes off the bright glow of his step mother above them.

"I could ask the same of you." Purity said. Her voice was calm and she didn't seem like she was looking for a fight.

"We're just cleaning up some trash. What do you care?" Nihilus asked. In times like these he could really appreciate Sacrosanct and Nihilus' ability to not give any fucks. Meanwhile he felt like he was going to have an aneurysm.

"You're going after the wrong people if you're looking for trash." She said. "The Merchants and ABB are a bigger threat than the Empire."

"I thought you left the Empire, Purity. Trying to strike out as a hero." He said, trying to keep his voice level and calm.

"I… I am. Trying to be a hero." She said tensely.

"Well you're doing a poor job of it. You're still doing the same thing you were as a villain and you didn't even bother to rebrand or negotiate with the Protectorate." Sacrosanct said.

"There are extenuating circumstances you wouldn't understand." Purity bit out. "Getting Kaiser's attention is the last thin you need. Just stop attacking the Empire." She started to fly away, but Theo let his anger get the best of him.

"Or what?" He asked.

Purity stopped, floating still for a moment before turning back to them.

"Or I'll be forced to intervene." She said coldly.

"Really? You'd gladly help a group you left? Why? If you can't attack them you could at least not help them. You might as well still be a member if this is how you're going to operate."

"I may not agree with the way Kaiser does things but the Empire has a lot of honest people just trying to make the best of what they have." Purity said, floating towards us.

"So lynching people is honest? Stirring up hate for people with marginal differences is trying to make the best of a bad hand? Do you even hear yourself speak?" Sacrosanct asked.

"I won't say everyone is a good person but most of them—."

"You could make the same excuses for the ABB. Hell, right now it's true. Some ABB cape is forcing civilians into the ABB under threat of death. How many people has Kaiser or Hookwolf forced into the Empire? How many people work for them that want nothing to do with the group?" Theo said.

"It's not like that!" Purity said with some heat in her voice as she landed on the roof.

"Then what's it like?" Purity opened her mouth to reply but Theo kept talking. "Because it looks and sounds like you're still helping them despite not being a member. It sounds like you never left in the first place. The Empire isn't better than the ABB or Merchants just because they're white. If anything, the Empire is worse, spouting hate for what? Tell me what the point of it all is."

"I… I'm trying to help you. I'm trying to keep Kaiser's eyes off of you. He would stop at nothing to recruit you and that's the last thing you want. If stopping you from fighting the Empire is what I have to do to keep you from Kaiser, then I will."

"If we're going to have to go through you to get rid of all the scum in this city, then so be it."

That was his anger getting to him. He loved Kayden as much as he would love his actual mother, but to say she was trying to make a change in her life and never follow through with it felt like a betrayal. His heart hurt and that made him angry and there was no better place to direct that anger at the moment.

It wasn't actually possible to see Purity's eyes because of how bright her Breaker form was, but he imagined her eyes narrowed as she spoke again, "So be it."

Purity raised her arm and fired a beam of light, which the group easily dodged. Sacrosanct and Nihilus geared up to fight, but Theo raised an arm to stop them.

"Let me handle this." He said lowly.

"Are you sure, Samael?" Sacrosanct asked.

"Yeah." Theo nodded.

"You think you can—." Purity was cut off as Theo flashed towards her and punched her in the stomach, sending her flying for a few feet before she caught herself. She growled before firing two blasts at him, which we easily dodged. Theo rushed at her again and kicked her. She braced for the attack and didn't fly as far or spin out this time, catching herself quickly. She fired another blast from her right hand. Theo dodged and was behind her in a second. She turned the second he dodged and blasted him in the chest with a charged blast from her other hand.

The blow knocked him skidding across the air he was standing on, but didn't do much more. He growled and pulled his hand back to charge and aim an explosion but in his anger he channeled something else. Blueish energy crackled and sparked in his hands, screaming and chirping for a few moments before it condensed into burning blue plasma. He shot his hand forward and was almost surprised as the beam fired.

Purity met the plasma beam with her own, the superheated electrons clashing and lighting up the night sky. Purity added her other hand to try and over power her opponent. Theo met the increase in power with little effort before dashing off, appearing above her and axe kicking her in the shoulder, sending her flying to the ground. The ground cratered beneath her, splintering the concrete in a deep concave. She coughed as air left her lungs and she bounced slightly off the ground before another blast of superheated electrons blasted into her chest, heating the cracked concrete around her. Theo landed and planted a foot firmly on her stomach, a plasma filled hand pointed down at her face.

"Are you done?" His voice was low but not tired.

"No." She tried to push him off, but his leg wouldn't budge. She struggled for a few moments before trying to blast him. He leaned back, letting the heat wash over him as the blast shot harmlessly into the night sky.

Theo put more weight on her stomach, making her cough more air out of her lungs.

"Stop it. You're not going to win. Even if you beat me you'd have to deal with Nihilus and Sacrosanct, who wouldn't hold back as much as I did. Go home, Purity. Think about your life. Think about if this is really where you want to be." He pulled his foot from her chest and stepped back, letting her make her way to her feet.

Purity had a hand on her stomach, hunched slightly.

"You know Kaiser will come after you when he gets wind of this. He's the type of man who gets what he wants no matter what. If he comes after you I can't help." Purity warned.

"I don't care about Kaiser. He can't do a thing to us. You need to get your shit together and figure out what you're doing with your life."

"You don't know—."

"Shut up!" Theo shouted. "I don't need to know you. It's obvious you're bumblefucking your way around with no plan. Unfuck yourself or you're going to be dealing with us in the near future. And that won't be pretty. So go home and figure yourself out. If you attack us again, don't expect the same mercy."

Purity was silent, watching his golden eyes for few moment. She straightened out and backed away, flying off quickly.

"You okay?" Nihilus asked, landing next to him.

"I'll be fine in a bit. Just upset." Theo sighed.

"Why?"

"She's my step mom."

"That makes sense and I feel dumb for never putting that together." Sacrosanct sighed.

"Don't worry about it. I need to head home now so she doesn't get suspicious. You guys can handle the rest?" He asked.

"Who do you think you're talking to? Get going." She tapped his chest with the back of her hand.

"Thanks. I won't ditch out next time."

"Don't worry about it."

—

Theo was glad he left his window open before leaving. He didn't have to bother with taking the elevator up or risking Kayden already being home when he showed up. The last thing he needed was getting chewed out for leaving his sister alone. Speaking of, he left his room, making sure Kayden wasn't home yet and checked in on Aster. She was still sound asleep in her crib, so everything had turned out alright. Going back to his room he decided to change into his pajamas. It was far past the time he usually went to bed, but Kayden wouldn't be surprised if he was still up at this hour.

He pulled his shirt off and switched into a pair of shorts to sleep in, then headed for the bathroom. He considered the fight and his anger. He felt like he may have been a bit too hard on Kayden, but she needed sort herself out. Figure out where she stood in the cape scene. Hopefully his being forceful would kick start her making an actual change for the better. The worst case scenario is that she decided to go back to the Empire. Best case scenario, as far as he was concerned, was Kayden getting it together and working on herself. Her fear of losing Aster was the driving force, meaning Kaiser had something to hold over her head, but hopefully not for long. They'd be taking out the ABB in the next few weeks and the Merchants soon after, leaving only Faultline, who wasn't a threat, Coil, who they'd deal with at Lisa's discretion, and the Empire, who they'd deal with at his own discretion.

He was in the unique position where Kaiser wouldn't necessarily be suspicious of his sudden motivation or interest in how the Empire was run. He'd take it as Theo finally taking after him the way he wants. Kaiser would think he'd won. He might be a smart and cunning man, but he was arrogant. He would take it as a sign he'd won or that Theo was like him after all. It would take at least a few weeks before he realized what was really going on.

Theo left the bathroom only moments after Kayden had entered the apartment. She hadn't called out, assuming the kids to be asleep and was heading towards Aster's room. This gave her a perfect view of the tattoo on his torso. One that she obviously recognized if the deer-in-headlights loon on her face switching between anger and confusion was anything to go by.

The room flashed white from Kayden switching into her Breaker form and Theo dashed to her, grabbing her arms.

"Let me go!" She shouted.

"Stop yelling or you'll wake up Aster." Theo snapped.

"Get off of me!"

"No! Relax! Talk to me, Kayden."

"Talk?!" She struggled harder to get her arms free, but got no leeway. "We just fought! You threatened to kill me, Theo! You threatened your father and the Empire and you want to talk?!"

"Yes!"

"What is there to talk about?! You're just going to turn me in—."

"I would never!" He snapped to loudly, starling her a bit. "I told you before, you're the closest thing I have to a mom and I love you. I'd avoid turning you in for as long as possible because I care about you and Aster deserves to have her mom there while she grows up. Will you just talk with me, Kayden?"

She, presumably, stared into his eyes before leaving her Breaker form.

"You get five minutes."

"Great. Let's sit." He said, letting her go and going around to the couch.

"So talk." Kayden said once they were settled in.

"Why did you leave the Empire, Kayden?" He asked seriously.

"Because I was tired of Max manipulating me. The Empire isn't the place for a child to grow up. I want the best for Aster and Max and the Empire isn't that."

Theo nodded.

"You should know by now I don't share your views." Theo started. "I think it's a terrible way to look at the world. Which was why I was glad to see you get away from that. I hoped you were making a change for the better. Trying to be a better person. Then you show up to stop us handling an Empire safe house, flip flopping between helping them and helping us, and I can't help but feel betrayed. Like I believed in you for nothing. That I was wrong to trust you. I don't want to think I can't trust you, Kayden. It's bad enough I know I can't trust my father."

"I didn't…" She trailed off. "I'm sorry you feel like that, Theo. I want you to be able to trust me. I want you to be able to rely and me and Aster to be able to rely on you. She'll need her brother if her father won't be in her life much. I just… I was with the Empire for a decade. Even before that racism was beaten into me. Wanting to change and being able to change are different things. I want to change, but I'm not sure I can do that."

"I just want you to think about the things you've been doing and make a conscious effort to change. I'm not expecting it over night, but I want you to put in effort. I wasn't joking about getting rid of the Empire. The last thing I want is Aster to end up in the foster system until I'm old enough to adopt her."

"You'd do that?"

"Of course." Theo nodded.

They were silent for a few moments as Kayden thought over what to say. Theo didn't think, letting it all wash over him without moving him.

"So what is your group about? Are you heroes? Villains? What do you do?" Kayden asked curiously.

"Are you interested in joining?"

"I'm not sure. Answer my question first."

Theo rolled his eyes playfully. "We're technically vigilantes. We're on whichever side we want to be at any time. If we have to do some less than legal things to advance our goal, so be it."

"What is your goal, exactly?"

"Removal of all the gangs." Theo said seriously, making Kayden gasp.

"That's not possible. There are only three of you. You'd have to take on damn near every other group in the city."

"There are only three of us so far." He specified, "And we are going up against nearly every group. The only ones we aren't actively going after are Faultline's Crew, and that's because they're just mercenaries. Once the gangs are gone we divvy up the city between ourselves to prevent any other groups moving in. That's the goal."

"You want to control Brockton Bay's underground."

"Not necessarily. A few of us might participate in crime, but some of us won't. The point is just to make the Bay a safer place."

"An admirable goal, if not a difficult one." Kayden sighed, leaning back into her seat. "Before I ran into your group tonight, I was flying around thinking. I very nearly went to speak with Max. I know how that would have ended. Me right back in the Empire. Right back under his thumb. Thinking about it now, our spontaneous meeting saved me from making a huge mistake. I'm glad for it now, despite taking a little beat down. You think you have space for me to join? I could certainly use the change of pace and the direction to help get my head together."

Theo smiled. "I'll ask Sacrosanct, but I don't think she'll outright refuse. So let me be the first to welcome you to the Espada as a probationary member." He put his hand out.

Kayden smiled back, "I'll work hard." She shook his hand.

The two came to an understanding both as Capes and as Mother and Son.

Then the bombs went off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus ends Arc 2. I'm not sure if Arc 3 will be up by the regular schedule time. If it's not, don't worry about it. I might end up double posting if I miss Monday and finish it timely enough. This chapter was originally supposed to be from Purity's perspective, but I went with Theo in the end. This chapter features Kayden and Theo getting closer. Or at least starting to. Make no mistake, Kayden is still racist, but she's willing to change and take the direction the Espada give her. She has a goal now instead of drifting aimlessly trying to cull the ABB. Purity joining the Espada is also going to cause some interesting things at Somer's Rock next chapter.


	25. Grinding 3.1

The last week had been hell. It was bullshit stacked on bullshit stacked on even more bullshit. It all kicked off with Bakuda bombing the city in an attempt to free Lung from PRT custody. Luckily the big salamander was still missing too much of his body for Oni Lee to get him out, so Lung was still left in PRT custody but now the PRT was down a few troopers. Then the Wards were relocated to the Rig because Bakuda _fucking detonated people_ who were getting scanned for her bombs. That killed more troopers and a did major damage to the buildings infrastructure. Apparently not being able to get Lung out meant Bakuda felt like she had to increase the number of bombs to do more damage across the city. I had all of us running around helping where we could and trying to find the bitch, but she was hidden too well.

On top of this I had to deal with _fucking Purity_. Theo explained he invited her and she was willing to change and all that noise. I had words with him about that, but we took her in since it was better to have a powerhouse like her than let her fall back into the hands of the Empire Eighty-Eight. It pissed off Grue pretty bad when he found and it took Theo talking me down from giving her a very intimate view of the bottom of my shoe when she called me a Jew to my face like it was an insult.

The only silver lining was school was canceled because even in Brockton Bay they didn't expect life to go on with a crazy bomb Tinker going wild.

That gave me more time to go out and do what I could to help. I mostly fixed the damage Bakuda had done and healed people who were injured. I learned I had a very limited capacity to bring people back from the dead. The specifics of what did and didn't work were muddy at best, but I knew I couldn't help people who had been transmuted into something else entirely and I couldn't revive people who were dead longer than five minutes. Reattaching limbs or fixing any damage done by the bombs was easy, but when it came to the dead I felt pretty box blocked.

We coordinated with the Undersiders, Lisa's power being incredibly useful for helping us be where we needed to be to get the most done, and that had led to the confrontation between Grue and Samael. It was going well. Grue was convinced they could get along, but the moment he heard about Purity he got uncomfortable. Which I could understand since she was pretty violently racist. I was surprised the only problem we had by the end of the week was the whole "Jew" thing.

It was during a coordination meeting with Lisa yesterday that she clued us in on the villain meeting going on today. Coil had organized it, apparently, going though the trouble of getting in touch with the other gang leaders to discuss the Bakuda situation. We were to meet at some place called Somer's Rock in Downtown. It bothered me to no end that the only neutral ground in the city was in Empire territory, but there wouldn't be need for it once we were done.

"I'm not sure about this." Purity said as we walked through the Garganta that would open up in front of the meeting place.

"Relax. It's not like Kaiser can do anything to you while we're in this meeting. He won't be able to act until we leave the building at the very least and if he does." I shrugged.

"We'll kill him." Nihilus nodded. Both Purity and Samael flinched at that.

"Well, I hope we don't have to take it that far. I'd really prefer not to murder anyone if I can help it."

"It would definitely solve their problems though."

"To an extent, I guess." I acquiesced.

"Much as I hate my dad, I'd prefer he be alive to watch everything he holds dear crumble around him." Samael said.

"That's honestly pretty fucked up. But more power to you. I'd feel the same in that position."

"I'm so glad my parents are normal." Nihilus sighed.

"I would prefer you not talk about people I considered friends like they're nothing." Purity said.

"They aren't your friends, Purity. They used to be, I guess, but you're not with them anymore. You're with us. That makes them enemies by default. We're getting rid of them either way." I stated.

"I know, just…"

"Yeah, yeah, it's hard getting over old friends. I know better than anyone. But if you're going to give up your racist ways you can't think of them as friends. They're not people you used to grab a drink with after work or whatever. They're not the people you sent Christmas cards or had Sunday dinner with. They're rival Capes. For you especially this is a problem because they know you. You have a target on your back and they'll be out for blood for your betrayal. If you can't bear to think of them as enemies then why are you here with us instead of there with them?"

Purity was silent, but nodded her head.

We stepped out onto the empty street across from our meeting location.

"Is there anything I need to know before we go in?" I asked as we walked toward the little hole in the wall restaurant.

"Leaders sit at the table. You're new so Kaiser may try to deny you a seat, but he should have an idea of your power so it's up in the air. Subordinates sit at the surrounding booths. No powers. Anyone who uses their powers will be attacked by everyone else. It may not be a major threat to you, but you should still respect the truce. Also, expect Kaiser to either talk down to you or bring grievances when he realizes I've switched teams. It will really hammer in that I've left for good and he'll be really pissed off about that."

"That's a hell of an understatement." Samael scoffed.

"Got it." I nodded as we approached the door. I took a deep breath and put on my "Queen Bitch" pants and we stepped inside.

Somer's Rock was rather impressive in that it managed to be the most bland and rundown looking building on a street full of hole in the wall businesses. The rust of the metal bars on the windows had dripped down and mixed with the peeling grayish paint to leave streaks like tears under the windows. Thematically, it was a perfect fit because this place was depressing even by my standards. The inside had stained wood floors the same color as the count and faded dark green tablecloths and curtains. The only color to the place came from the bright yellow lights hanging from the ceiling.

Everyone turned to us as we stepped into the building. Some of them were surprised to see us. Kaiser didn't give anything away at seeing Purity with us, but I could imagine he was pissed off.

We had apparently arrived late since almost every other gang was there already. Coil sat at the head of the table, his hands folded in his lap calmly. Kaiser sat near the head of the table in his knight's armor. He had Hookwolf, Krieg, and Fenja and Menja with him sitting at their own booth. Faultline's crew was sitting at the booth behind her seat far from Kaiser. Labyrinth looked pretty out of it from what I could tell, but Spitfire and Gregor the Snail were keeping her together while Newter seemed to be talking to keep her present. I'd never seen a Case 53 before and I idly wondered if there was anything I could do for them. The Undersiders were sitting at the booth behind them and Grue was at the table across from Kaiser. A bold choice for him, but I wasn't going to question it. Skidmark and Squealer were sitting in a booth both looking like they were ready to break the truce. There was a group I didn't immediately recognize at another booth. When I saw their leader, Trickster, sitting at the table I remembered who they were: The Travelers. A nomadic group of Capes that started up a little more than a year ago.

I waved everyone over to a booth and walked towards the table. There was only one seat left next to Trickster, who had his feet up on the table.

"We're not too late, I hope." I drawled, grabbing the chair. I wasn't surprised when it was held in to keep me from taking it. Not that I couldn't just take it if I wanted.

"Sacrosanct." Coil started coolly. "I can't say I was expecting to see you here. I was under the impression you were heroes."

I gave a dismissive half shrug. "Our purpose is… Ill defined at the moment. Regardless of whichever side you think we fall on, if this meeting is about Bakuda I believe we'll be useful in stopping her."

"And what makes you think you deserve a seat at the table." Kaiser asked.

"Well," I started, "I suppose the only accolade I hold of any real note is the defeat of a fifteen foot tall Lung."

"Who you then turned over to the PRT. How do we know you aren't wearing a wire?" Faultline asked.

I shrugged. "The Protectorate was there by the time our fight finished. He would have been taken either way. I suppose you'll have to take me at my word I wouldn't dare involve the cops in a neutral meeting like this. I'd consider myself about as enthused as all of you with the current rise in police activity. The longer this goes on the more difficult things become for us. I'd prefer to rectify that as quickly as possible."

"What about Mush?" Skidmark shot. "You and your shit stain crew got him locked up! You're a cop if I've ever seen one!"

"Who cares about your drug rat teammate? Far as I'm concerned you all need to fall down a pit anyway." I shot back. "And you shouldn't be calling other people shit stain with a name like Skidmark."

"Why you…" Skidmark started to stand but was pulled back by Squealer.

"She ain't worth it, Skids."

I turned back to the rest of the group. "What we lack in reputation, as we've only been around for two weeks, we more than make up in terms of power. I suppose it's your choice if you want our power with you or not."

My voice was calm and daring, but it was a bluff. There wasn't much I could do if they denied me a seat at the table simply for bad timing preventing us from moving our plans the way I'd wanted to. Putting on a show like this and throwing a tantrum if they denied me like I'm sure Skidmark had would win me no points with them. I'd just be some petulant child throwing a tantrum. A tantrum that could potentially destroy the city, but a childish tantrum nonetheless. That wasn't how I wanted this part of my Cape career to start off, but circumstances didn't allow for us to start the way we had initially planned.

If anything this situation just showed me how volatile the Cape scene could be and that we'd need to move faster. Even if we didn't have anything going on we needed to claim territory quickly and without remorse. A show of force is what we needed to get the respect our power commanded and I'd have at worst until the end of this meeting to figure something out.

"Honestly," Grue spoke up, much to my surprise, "having been on the receiving end of what she's capable of and seeing first hand what she did to Lung, I'd say her strength alone earns her a spot."

The older villains stared at me for a few more moments before whatever was holding the chair released.

"I appreciate the hospitality." I nodded, taking the chair and sitting at the table.

"This is fucking bullshit!" Skidmark shouted, shooting up from his seat.

"Maybe." Kaiser started. "But she has potential. She's not some doped up loser with nowhere to go but down. And if _Purity_ ," he tried not to spit her name with venom but there was still noticeable vitriol in his voice, "Can see something in her, then she must be worth something."

I knew that wouldn't win me any favor, but I was okay with that. I'd rather be a Cape Poacher than a petulant child.

"Well, I as I was saying before our late arrivals joined us," Coil started, "The ABB is getting out of hand. Fifty-five confirmed deaths, more speculated, and well over a hundred people hospitalized in the past week. Armed presence in the streets, ongoing gunfights between the ABB and combined police and military forces, the ongoing bombings of the city and our businesses. They've seized out territories and have shown no sign of stopping any time soon." Coil laid out the situation.

"It _is_ rather inconvenient." Kaiser spoke.

"They're being reckless." Faultline said. She made it sound like the worst possible crime.

"Which brings me to my next point; the ABB can't sustain this. Something will give and they will self destruct from this. Had things played out differently this is a situation that could have been tolerated or ignored. The ABB would burn themselves out and that would be less competition. The problem is all the attention they've been drawing to our fair city. Homeland security and military forces have set up temporary bases to help keep order, especially after the attacks on the PRT HQ, and the heroes are being bolstered by outside support and Capes from other cities. At this rate they may start making things more difficult for us after this is all over." Coil explained.

"Bakuda is at the center of this." Grue joined. "Everything hinges on her. She's conscripted new members by attacking people while they sleep and planting bombs in their heads. Then she forced those people to bring her even more people. She's got to have more than three hundred soldiers right now, all willing to lay down their lives because it's the only way. Either the Feds kill them or Bakuda does. Or she forces them to watch their loved ones die."

"The bombing of the PRT HQ proves that. She detonated every single person who was captured." I said. "I'm not sure if things would've been better or worse had she managed to spring Lung like she was planning, but she's got no qualms about killing anyone that's not herself. All her pieces are expendable."

"More than that, she's got every single one of her bombs hooked up to a dead man switch. The second her heart stops beating half of New England gets glassed." Grue continued. "Our ultimate goal is Bakuda, but she's done everything she can to make it damn near impossible to get to her."

"So," Coil said slowly, letting the word hang for a moment, "We're all in agreement the ABB needs to be dealt with?"

The others murmured between each other for a few moments before nodding, agreeing that it was the best course of action. I noticed Faultline was largely silent.

"Then I propose a truce." Coil said. "Not just between those of us here, but between ourselves and the law. I would contact the authorities and let them know that until this matter is handled we'll reduce our illegal activities to only what is absolutely essential and extend this to those operating in our territory as well. This will allow the military to focus on the ABB. There would be no violence, no infighting between us, no grabs for territory or theft or insult. We band together with those we can tolerate for guaranteed victory and ignore those we cannot."

"That's agreeable." Faultline said. I never met her before but she seemed oddly tense for such a professional.

"I was talking with my group about something similar earlier, so this is fine with us." Grue said.

"Good. Kaiser?"

"That's acceptable." The tin can said.

"Sure," Trickster said, "We're in."

"That works for me." I nodded.

Hands were shaken all around. Hookwolf brought up some grievances with Bitch attacking his dog fighting rings, but I tuned him out. I was already working on my plans for after the truce was over. After all, I couldn't be the only one there not planning on fucking over the others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The call of the deadline was too strong. I decided to delay the blow up over Purity. Kaiser is smarter than that. It will definitely come up later.


	26. Grinding 3.2

The Undersiders joined us in Las Noches immediately following the meeting at Somer's Rock. I shifted the room to the table and realized we should probably add a few extra chairs for people who didn't automatically get one. For now, Grue, Bitch, and Purity stood by the Numero they worked with.

"You know Bakuda hired Faultline, right?" Lisa started.

"I figured." I nodded. "It was my first time meeting her, but she seemed kinda cagey. Not the kind of behavior you'd expect from a professional of her level."

"That means we're going to have to fight her. Faultline is a lot stronger than people give her credit for. They think she's only good for breaching because her power lets her make holes in things." Lisa shook her head. "People don't think through the implications of what someone can really do because it's common knowledge Capes just have to make the best of whatever power they get. In Faultline's case they don't realize that she could easily drop buildings if she felt like it. Her power might only be limited to things she touches, but she can spread the cracks really far. She could destroy a buildings foundation with enough time. She could easily make an area impossible to fight in."

"Well, that won't be a problem for those of us who don't need to be on the ground. What about the others?" I asked.

"Spitfire is a new recruit on her team." She started with an edge to her voice.

"She's mad cause Faultline poached her from us." Alec said.

"Shut up." Lisa pouted. "Anyway, her name is literal. Newter is pretty strong, really quick, and his body fluids are hallucinogenic. It's strong enough to knock people out and some people even pay for it."

"That's weird." Theo said.

"People would do a lot of weird things for a high." Alec shrugged

"Gregor is more durable than average and can shoot out chemical concoctions, including a slime similar to Containment Foam." Lisa continued. "If it hits you, you'll be stuck for a while. And Labyrinth… Well, if the PRT counted villains, Vista wouldn't have the title of "Strongest Shaker on the East Coast". She can completely change the environment around her."

"Alright. We'll figure out a plan for them." I nodded. "Purity, I want your input. What do you think is up with Kaiser? I expected more push back from him."

The older woman shook her head.

"Kaiser is smarter than to cause a scene in a place like that. He cares about image and throwing a fit over losing me to you would make him look bad to the others. He's unlikely to bring it up, but expect him to try something. Either he'll tell the PRT you're actually villains or he'll attack you almost immediately after the truce. He might even try something during the truce if he thinks he can get away with it."

"First of all, stop saying "You" like you aren't a member. Second, I appreciate that. It gives me more to work with. While Hookwolf was complaining, I was thinking. We've been moving too slowly. The day this truce is over and the ABB is dealt with, we put up our signs. You get on designing something simple Madison. Easy to tag on a wall but memorable and representative of the group. It'll piss off the heroes, but whatever. Tats, you ever come up with a name?"

"I figured, considering what I know of my powers, that I'd go with Wraith." She said. "And we came up with Rhapsody for Regent."

"Those are good. I need to you get started on two things, the first is figuring out Coil. I want that snake gone as soon as we can manage it. The second, and slightly less pressing thing, is getting us set up with some financial infrastructure. We need income if we want to really keep hold on the city and a way to pay any normals we recruit. Each of us can decide if we want to handle anything illegal, but we need to have enough money to get that far. Is there a way?"

"Number Man. He runs a… Well, it's not technically a villain bank, but heroes don't use him because they actually report their income to the IRS. I'll give you his number so you can set up a few accounts." She said.

"Got it. Speaking of Coil, do you know if that was the real one?"

She shook her head. "It was a proxy. I could tell because all he was focused on was how was getting into Coil's good graces for being his Proxy. He had strong desires for Coil to like him."

"He shouldn't be doing that." Brian said.

"It's a breach of the truce, however temporary, to send a proxy to a neutral meeting." Purity nodded.

"That's how Coil operates." Lisa said. "I've only met him in person a handful of times and I don't know for sure if that was actually him except for the one time he gave me a demonstration of his power. I think he was lying, saying he could manipulate destiny, but he's still a slippery fucker. There's paranoid, then there's Coil."

"I won't ask you to push the issue, but be on the lookout for ways we can get to him. Do you at least know where his hideout is?" I asked.

"No. I've met him in places that could be hideouts, but they weren't permanent."

"Too bad, but not a big issue. He'll slip sooner or later and we'll be there to make sure he lands right on a knife. Theo, you're our in on the Empire. I don't want you getting caught out for asking too many questions, but any info you manage to get will be helpful."

"Kaiser will be glad to see me taking an interest in the Empire. I'm not sure he'll offer up too much info if I ask him, but I can try. I'll see what I can find that will help us get rid of them as quick as possible."

"Can either you or Purity write up a detailed list of what all their powers do?" I asked.

"I… Can help him with that." Purity said slowly.

"Alright. Do we have to worry about Night and Fog? I haven't heard anything about them in a while and I was wondering if they left like you."

"They did." She nodded. "Night and Fog were loyal to me, not Kaiser. They left with me. They live down in Boston now. I can call them to join us if—."

"No! No, that won't be necessary. Let them retire peacefully. We are good on that front. I don't think we need to turn those two loose on anyone."

"They're nice enough out of costume." She huffed.

"For Nazi's." Brian added.

Purity glared at him. "I don't appreciate that."

He shrugged. "I don't really appreciate that you'd blast a hole in my chest for my skin color."

"I… I'm trying." She said lowly. "And those two had it worse than I did. They were raised by Gesellshaft from birth. They're functioning Sociopaths at best."

"The point," I cut in, "Is that we don't need Night and Fog to come up. It's better that we let them retire or whatever. Hopefully Gesellshaft doesn't have them go back to the Empire. They'd be a pain in the ass to deal with without killing and I don't want to have to deal with keeping control of then. We'll already be in a weird spot once people realize you're working with us now."

"Fine."

"Good. Now that was the extent of what I have. We're speeding up plans on taking territory, we'll work on a plan for Faultline's crew, Tattletale will work on our finances and dealing with Coil, Theo will work on getting info on the Empire. Anyone have anything?"

"Oh! I want Squealer." Madison raised her hand, getting a weird look from the rest of us.

"What?" I asked.

"What does that even mean?" Alec asked.

"She wants her as a subordinate." Lisa clarified, rubbing her forehead with a sigh.

"Yeah! Theo gets one, I want one." She nodded.

"And you picked Squealer?" I asked incredulously. "The drugged up Tinker? Why?"

"I think she'd be useful and under all the drugs she's like, super lost."

"How did you come to that conclusion?"

"She's actually right." Lisa cut in. "Squealer was forcefully recruited into the Merchants. Skidmark heard about a new Tinker and drugged her up until she was far enough gone to be what she is now. That was… about four or five years ago now."

"Jesus. I knew Tinkers had to be careful, but fuck."

"Yeah. If the PRT was willing to use that as an example pretty much every unaffiliated Tinker would pick a side as soon as they realized what they could do. If Squealer had ended up with literally any other group she'd be one of the biggest threats in the city."

"I remember how angry Kaiser was when he found out about her. He used it to push his agenda for weeks. Pretty blonde white girl drugged up by Skidmark? He couldn't have made up better propaganda if he tried." Purity shook her head.

"Okay, so you want to get your hands on Squealer. Then what? She's basically too far gone to do anything with unless we can get her clean." I explained to Madison.

"You can get her clean, right?" She asked.

"I…" I paused at that. "Can I?" I asked, thinking it over to myself. I probably could. I'd never tried to negate something as abstract as drug addiction before though. "I might be able to do that. We'd have to kidnap her though. If I do it we'd have to talk her out of going back to the Merchants. She'd also need stuff to tinker with."

"I'm setting up in the Trainyard, she'll have plenty of stuff to tinker with."

"And now you're talking about her like she's a pet." Lisa sighed.

"Okay, we'll figure out the logistics of getting Squealer on our side later. Anyone else have anything they want to bring up? Concerns?" Everyone shook their heads and I nodded. "Alright, that means we're done here. Everyone without a number can go."

"Hey, why are you keeping us?" Alec complained, probably thinking about a game he wanted to get back to.

"We've got some training to do. Things are heating up and we've been neglecting some of the finer details. I want to make sure you all know as much as I do about what we're capable of."

"I hate training." He sighed.

"Too bad." Lisa and Theo opened a Descorrer each to let Purity, Bitch, and Grue go home while the rest of us stood for training.

—

We trained until evening on Saturday; until Madison had to be home or she'd be in trouble. I'd taught them about their weapons, how to better manipulate a Cero, and even the other forms of a Cero. Lisa was apprehensive about having to cut her finger for the Gran Rey Cero, and ended up favoring the Oscuras. Alec and Madison had far too much fun with their weapons, but I was willing to let them have that.

Saturday night was quiet as usual, Dad coming home and drinking until he fell asleep. He didn't work Sunday and needed to head to the mall, so I went with him. Had to make sure he didn't get caught up in anything.

"Attention shoppers. Please be informed that stores will be closing at five-thirty this evening, in cooperation with the city-wide curfew. Make sure to cooperate with authorities at the entrances and exits of the Weymouth shopping center, and return to your homes by six o'clock. Thank you."

The conversations of the other shoppers hushed as the woman spoke over the speakers. The mall was surprisingly packed considering the mass bombing that was going on. The stores had offered amazing sales to keep business open and I couldn't decide if it was a decision born of stupidity or greed.

"You ready to leave?" I asked dully, eyes roaming the crowds. It was unlikely anyone would remember us if a bomb went off and I ducked us into Vacio Mundo. I could probably convince dad it was a dream or something if he got drunk enough tonight.

"Yeah." He said. "Don't want to be around when everyone starts leaving."

We walked to the exit only to be blocked by a sea of bodies. It seemed our attempt to beat the rush was in vain since everyone else had the same idea. At least I thought so at first. I noticed up towards the front near all the military were two heroes; Battery and Shadow Stalker. It didn't surprise me that people would stop to gawk at the two heroines who had a lot of controversy surrounding them. The first the media suspected to be in an incestuous relationship with Assault and the second being a former vigilante that many suspected didn't join the Wards willingly.

Not to mention they were women in rather tight outfits. That would draw a crowd even if they weren't two controversial figures out on patrol together.

"Alan." My dad said, drawing my attention. "It's good to see you."

"Danny." Alan Barnes said with a smile. "It's been a while. Too long. How's it been?"

Dad glanced down at me for a second. "It's been good. We've got enough work at the Docks, especially with all the clean up going on. We're not swimming in money or anything, but we're staying afloat."

"That's good to hear. And your projects?"

"I've resigned myself to waiting until after elections to bring the Ferry up again. Honestly I was considering clearing the Boat Graveyard. If we could get it clear it could bring a lot more business to the bay shipping along the coast."

I actually liked the idea of that. It would help the city and could potentially net a lot of money. I'd have to ask Lisa about the logistics of it, but it seemed like it could be doable.

"Good, that's good you still have ideas to help the city. You should come over for a barbecue when it gets warmer."

"I'd like that. What brought you out today?"

"My daughter. She heard about the sales and just would not let them slip by. I'm holding our place in line while she— ah, here she is."

I turned and saw Emma walking towards us.

"Oh, hi Uncle Danny, Taylor."

"Hello, Emma." I said in my usual drawl. Our fathers continued talking while Emma stared at me with a smug smile on her face. If I actually cared anymore I probably would have hit her. Even Lisa wasn't that smug.

"So how did you enjoy your week off, Taylor?" She asked slyly.

"It was great, actually. Really relaxing."

"Oh?" She asked, fishing for more info.

"Yeah." I said dully, not bothering to give her anything more concrete.

"Taylor, didn't you say you knew someone who got caught up in all this?" Dad asked.

"Yeah." I nodded. "A couple friends got caught in the explosions earlier this week."

"You're the third person I've met who's been affected by all this." Alan shook his head.

"Friends?" Emma asked incredulously, her face twisting into a frown.

"Yup." I nodded.

She got closer, lowering her voice. "You don't have to lie, you know? It's totally okay to be a friendless loser." Her smirk came back full force.

"I do have a life outside of school. Not that you'd particularly understand that. My world doesn't revolve around you."

She scoffed, seemingly offended by the idea that I didn't spend my days lamenting losing her friendship.

"Oh please. I know you well enough to know when you lie, Taylor. You don't have anyone but yourself and I'd feel bad for you if you weren't so pathetic."

"I don't think about you at all." I drawled.

She choked and I almost smirked. She started to speak again when dad snapped.

"It's fine, Alan!" His hand was balled tightly and his arms were tense.

"Danny, if you're hitting the bottle again Zoe and I would be more than happy to help—."

"I don't need help, Alan. I'm fine. I've just been a bit stressed out lately. It's nothing to worry about."

"Just… Call me if you need anything, Danny. I'm here to help."

"Thanks, Alan." Dad said tightly.

He grabbed my arm, snatching me away towards another exit.


	27. Interlude 3.a

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very short chapter. This is always where this was going, I just hope it doesn't seem contrived.

Danny's knuckles were tight around the steering wheel of his truck. Who did Alan think he was? He hadn't bothered to talk to him in over a year, canceling every holiday on them, and he thinks he gets to act like he cared? No, Alan didn't understand what the problem was. He didn't bother to keep up with them enough to have an inkling of what was wrong.

"Dad!" Taylor yelled, snapping him from his thoughts. He swerved, narrowly avoiding drifting into oncoming traffic. He took a deep breath to calm down, but didn't bother slowing down. Alan had pissed him off and he wasn't going to be able to calm down until he got a stiff drink in him.

When they finally made it home, with another few near misses, Danny slammed the door and headed for the fridge, not paying attention to the sound of the door opening and closing again behind him. The fridge slammed shut as he grabbed a bottle of whiskey he'd been keeping for a while. He downed nearly half the bottle in an instant.

Damn Alan, acting like her cared. Claiming he wanted to help when he couldn't even be bothered to call them. He might as well have been avoiding them since Annette died and now he want's to act all chummy again? No. He didn't need his help.

"You do need help, dad." Taylor said.

"What?" he asked sharply, turning a glare to his daughter. He hadn't realized he was mumbling his thoughts.

"I said you do need help." She repeated. "Maybe not from Alan, but what about Kurt and Lacey?"

"I don't need anyone's help." He snapped.

He'd made it this long by himself, he could keep going longer.

"Yes you do. How can you not see the problem?" Taylor asked, clearly annoyed with him. Danny grumbled. How could she be annoyed with him? It didn't make any sense to him that she, of all people, didn't understand.

"There isn't a problem!" he shouted.

"Yes there is!" She shouted back, making him furrow his brow further. She'd never yelled at him before. Not like that. She sighed, over dramatically as far as he was concerned, and shook her head. "I'm so sick of your shit." She said lowly.

"Excuse you?!" He shouted. He felt hot, but wasn't sure if it was the alcohol or his anger bubbling up. How dare she speak to him like. She had no right.

"I said I'm sick of your shit." Taylor said again. "I'm sick of having to clean up after your binges like some battered house wife! I'm sick of how you're so stuck in your head you don't notice anything around you. I'm sick of you ignoring me!"

Danny sputtered, not clearly understanding what she was talking about, but the words hit close enough that they just fueled his anger further.

"I haven't been ignoring you! And I don't treat you like… Like that!"

He knew he had been, but he couldn't bring himself to acknowledge it. There was a heavy block there, keeping all those emotions in. Keeping him from breaking down. If it moved even an inch…

"Yes you do! Every night you come home and just start drinking. You barely talk to me! I've been doing nothing but trying to repair our relationship for months and you've done nothing but push me away! Are you just that oblivious or have you stopped caring? What do you have that's more important to you than me?!"

"I'm not… There's nothing…"

He didn't understand. Taylor should be the one to understand. She'd been in the same place. She was older now. She should get it.

"Then why?!" She shouted.

"Because I failed you!" He snapped. That block moved, letting everything flood out. Danny's rage was tempered only slightly by the flood of emotion. "I failed you and I… I didn't notice what was wrong and you nearly died!"

"You didn't fail me, dad." Taylor said, her tone lighter. "I was actively hiding things from you. You can't fail me when I'm not giving you the chance to fail." She paused, unsure if she wanted to continue her piece, but decided it would be better to do so. "You didn't fail me before, but you've been failing me every day since they pulled me out of that locker. You've done nothing but drink and ignore me while I've been trying fix our relationship."

Danny shook his head, more to clear the alcohol that was kicking in than to deny what his daughter was saying.

"I just… When I was looking at you in that hospital bed… I realized how horrible I'd been as a father. I couldn't take it. I couldn't face myself. I couldn't face you. I felt like I'd failed and my negligence almost cost me all I had left of Annette."

Had he been looking, Danny would have seen the look of apprehension and annoyance cross his daughters face.

"Dad, you can't keep looking at me like that." She said.

"W-what?"

"You can't keep looking at me like I'm just an offshoot of mom." She said a bit more heatedly. "I miss her too. I miss her every day but you can't stay hung up over her."

Danny felt his anger pick up again. She, of all people, should understand just how important Annette was. How could she even…

"Stop it." He said lowly, clenching and relaxing his fists to work the frustration out.

"No!" She said. "You can't continue like this, dad! I'm worried about you. I hate seeing you like this, drinking and working yourself into an early grave because you can't forgive yourself! If we need to start with mom, then so be it!"

"Stop. It!" He growled.

"I'm not mom!" Taylor continued. "You can't keep looking at me like I'm a replacement or some stand in for her!"

"Stop!" He said louder, nearing a shout. His fists were tight and knuckles white. His nails were digging into his palms so hard it hurt.

"You can't keep doing this to yourself! It's been almost three years, dad! Mom's gone! She's dead and she's not coming back and you need to—."

"Shut up!" Danny shouted, shooting out a hand as he interrupted her. It was only a second later that he realized what he'd done.

Taylor's mouth was open in shock, her eyes confused as she faced slightly away from him. She started to speak, but couldn't seem to find the words.

"Taylor, I'm—." He stopped as she stepped away from him, the pain on her face hurting him more than he was sure the slap hurt her.

"I…" She started, taking another step back from him, "I think it's best I leave for a while." She said quietly.

Danny could only watch in silent horror as a gaping black hole opened behind Taylor and she turned to walk into it. He came to his senses a second later, starting after her, but the hole snapped shut before he could follow her.

Danny's head was a mess, the mix of anger, grief, and alcohol making it hard to think. The revelation his daughter was a Parahuman didn't help. The world was spinning from the drink, his head was swirling from emotion, and he couldn't make sense of anything around him. He stumbled, tripping over the edge of the coffee table and onto the couch.

As he fell, Daniel Hebert saw Stars.


	28. Grinding 3.3

I woke up a lot warmer than usual but not uncomfortably so. It took me a few seconds to shake the haze of sleep and realize I was holding on to another person. I was more confused than worried. It's not like anyone bar a very small subset of people were strong enough to try anything with me and most of them didn't live anywhere near Brockton Bay.

I sat up slowly to look around the room I was in then down at the person I was previously curled into. I recognized Lisa immediately and remembered what had happened the previous night. I'd gotten into an argument with my dad about his drinking and neglect and he got mad enough to hit me. I left, outing myself in the process, and showed up at Lisa's apartment one step from a breakdown and she tried to console me till I cried myself to sleep. That certainly wasn't how I expected that confrontation to go. I thought he'd be mad when I eventually brought it up, or at least in denial, but I hadn't considered it would go _that_ badly.

I fell back onto the bed with a sigh.

"How'd you sleep?" Lisa asked. She sounded like she'd been awake for a while.

"Good, actually. Who knew crying could be so therapeutic?"

"Psychologists probably." She propped her head up on her hand but I didn't bother looking over at her. "You feeling any better?"

"You know I'm not."

"It was worth asking." She sighed. "Do you know what you're gonna do now?"

"No idea."

"You can stay here as long as you need to."

"I really appreciate that, Lisa."

"What are friends for?" She smirked. I knew she could tell I'd felt something at the word. For all intents and purposes I guess I did consider her a friend. And I didn't really have a choice but to trust her with my secrets considering she could see right through me like glass. Speaking of—

"What are your powers anyway?" I asked.

"I'm basically Sherlock Holmes on uppers. Super powered deduction. It's basically impossible to turn off."

"Moriarty." I said.

She covered her face with one hand and snorted in laughter.

"I made that same joke before." She laughed.

"I'm glad you know who he is. He's not very well known to people who haven't read the books."

"If I'm anything it's well read."

"I would've said 'unbearably smug'."

"That's not true. You can stand to be around me."

"Fine, 'almost unbearably smug' then. I'm surprised your power isn't 'enhanced smug'."

"Keep it up and I'll show you what 'enhanced smug' really looks like."

"No," I droned playfully, "Not the smug. I can't take it."

"Whatever you big nerd." Lisa rolled her eyes and got out of bed. "So what do you want to do today?"

"Nothing." I stretched. "I want to lie here."

"Ah-ah, none of that." She said. I could hear shuffling near the closet. "You know what always cheers me up?"

"Shopping." I sighed woefully.

"Shopping!" She sang cheerfully.

I looked over at her clock to check the time. It was a little past eight in the morning.

"Hey, you wanna come with me on my morning run?"

"What do you think I was changing for?" I looked over and saw her dressed in yoga pants and a sports bra, her hair done up in a bun. "I'm sure you can fit some of my baggier stuff so get dressed."

—

"I never want to run with you again." Lisa panted as we walked into the donut shop.

"You just need better endurance." I said.

"How do you run like that?"

"I have good endurance." I smirked.

"I'll hit you." She growled.

"You can't."

"Well, good morning Taylor. Who's your friend?" Abby asked.

"Morning Abby. This is my friend Lisa."

"Hello." Lisa waved.

"Morning. So, you gonna make being late on Monday's a habit?" Abby asked.

"I hope not. I ended up staying at Lisa's place last night."

"Oh?" She cocked her head to the side. "What happened?"

Abby really was too good at reading people. Maybe it was my word choice or the fact she had been through the evasive teen thing a few times, but she picked up that something had happened a little too quick.

"Its…" I drummed my fingers on the counter once, "Nothing you should worry yourself over."

"If it was important enough you left to someone else's house I'll worry about it." She said, getting into her "mother bear" mode. It probably said something about me that I didn't realize she cared that much until that moment.

"Got into an argument with my dad." I sighed.

"Bad enough you left home, huh?" She asked, calming down a bit.

"Yeah." I drummed my fingers on the counter again.

"Well," She sighed, "I'm glad you have friends to help you through that. It's on the house today."

"What?" I asked, "Are you sure?"

"Yup. Get what you want. Sweets always help."

"Apple fritter. Chocolate milk as always." I said with a smile.

"And you?" Abby looked at Lisa.

"Oh, uh. Muffin, please."

"Got it. You two have a good run. See you next time Taylor." Abby said as she bagged everything up.

"Thanks again, Abby. See you Wednesday." I said as we started leaving.

"She's a lot nicer than she looks." Lisa said as we started walking back towards her place.

"She is. I like her because she's not all peppy. Very to the point."

"Yeah, that makes sense for you."

"I hope you know we're running back." I told her as opened my milk.

"You're a monster." She groaned.

"You just need to do more Cardio." I laughed and we started back to her place.

—

Once we got back and finished showering Lisa called the Number Man and I set up accounts for the Espada as a whole and each of us individually. The main Espada account was mostly general or discretionary funds for the group as a whole. Business expenses basically. I was probably going to be the one putting the most into that account, but it was fine. As long as we had enough to operate it would be fine. Not like I tended to spend a lot on myself.

Once I had everything set up I shot Theo and Madison a message about their new accounts and how we'd meet up later to talk about it. Then we went out shopping.

Luckily there hadn't been any bombings so far by the time we got to the shop a bit before noon. The tension was visible along the boardwalk in how the few people who were out were constantly looking over their shoulders. The Boardwalk was usually crowded but it was empty by comparison today. The few shops that were open didn't have very many, if any, people in them.

This was more the atmosphere I was expecting at the mall the previous day, but I guess 50% off sales just did that to people.

"You know you should really show your legs off more." Lisa told me.

"You think so?" I asked.

"You're tall and have long legs. Definitely a way to attract attention." She nodded, flipping through a rack of clothes.

"I don't really want attention."

"Still trying to hide?" She asks.

"Not really. I don't feel the need to hide myself away in inconspicuous clothing anymore, but I also don't necessarily want people staring at me or trying to talk to me." I explain.

"You're just anti social."

"To an extent, I guess. I want to make friends again but there's still that lingering fear of being burned again."

Lisa looked at me for a few seconds and decided not to push that subject with a light shake of her head.

"Well will you at least try something less drab than the over sized bleached hoodies?"

"I can try more flashy, I guess, but not super flashy. I still want to wear jeans. And no heels."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll have you set up with a nice new wardrobe soon."

"Are we really buying everything from here?" I asked, looking over some of the price tags. Eighty dollar shirts were a bit much for me.

"Why not? These clothes are nice." Lisa pouted.

"They're expensive. While I might be able to afford it, it feels like a rip off."

"Well we'll just buy a few outfits and we can shop somewhere you like more later. Now go try these on." Lisa pushed a bunch of clothes into my hand and waved me off towards the dressing rooms.

We spent about an hour in that boutique and I was once again put through the gauntlet that was shopping with Lisa. New outfits every few minutes to the point where I felt like I was drowning in cloth. When we were finally done and moving up to pay I heard an unfortunately familiar voice call out to me.

"Oh, Taylor." Emma said as we were walking towards the counter. She had a few of her groupies with her. "Fancy seeing you here. Since, you know, this isn't the type of place you can afford." She smiled.

"Sup." Was the only acknowledgment I gave her. Honestly, that was probably too much.

"Oh, don't be that way, Taylor. Don't you want to introduce me to your new friend?" Emma asked.

"Not particularly."

"Aw, I think it would be nice, Taylor." Lisa started with a sly fox like grin that said she was up to no good. She turned towards Emma and her groupies with a smile. "I'm Lisa."

"Well at least one of you has manners. I'm Emma. I hope Taylor hasn't been bringing down your mood too much. I know how much of a downer she can be."

"Oh, no, Taylor is actually quite nice to be around. How do you know her?"

Lisa was definitely playing coy. I knew she knew enough by now to start picking at Emma, but she hadn't started yet. I didn't really want to be around her any longer than I needed to be, so I was just ready to go.

"She didn't tell you? We used to be friends, much as it pains me to admit. I just couldn't stand to be around someone I out grew. She's just not up to my standard." Emma shook her head and shrugged in that cocky, punchable 'Oh well' way.

"Taylor hasn't mentioned you at all. I guess she just didn't feel you were important enough."

I had to bite my tongue to keep from smirking at the shock that flashed across Emma's face.

"I—."

"You know you seem to think very highly of yourself. And despite the fact Taylor's never mentioned you to me and you claim you out grew her, it seems to me like you spend a lot of time thinking about her. Is someone crushing?"

"I-I'm not… How could you even—."

"Relax, I'm joking, Red. You know, you look kind of familiar."

Emma relaxed a bit and straightened her hair with her hands. "That's right!" She said proudly, "I model."

"Ah! That makes sense. I must have seen you a fashion magazine! So, what's that like?"

"Modeling is fun. I'm sure I could get you in if you wanted to try. You just have to—."

"No, no, I meant 'what's it like using modeling to cover for your insecurities'?" Lisa smiled widely, showing teeth. "You really strike me as the type of person who likes to hold things over others to feel better about themselves. So what is it for you?"

"I'm not insecure about anything." It was a statement, but it sounded like a question. I don't think I'd ever heard her so defensive.

"Is that so? Nothing at all? You'll have to excuse me if I doubt that. I'd say daddy issues, but that's not right. It's something deeper. Something more psychological…" Lisa acted like she was taking a second to think, which let Emma speak.

"How dare you?! You don't know a thing about me!" Emma stomped.

"Ah, I got it!" Lisa snapped, " You like to pretend to be strong!"

"W-what are you—."

"You act like you're strong." Lisa said again, moving closer to Emma and lowering her voice to a hiss. "You pretend like you're the one standing at the top because deep down inside you know you're nothing more than a terrified little girl who can't handle what the world is like. You tear down others because it makes you feel better about yourself long enough to pretend that deep down inside you're not just a few simple words from a breakdown. You're fragile like glass and all it would take is one tiny drop to shatter you to pieces."

Lisa took a step back from Emma who was now wide eyed and taking quick shallow breaths. The other girls with her were somewhere between confused and terrified.

"Well," Lisa started again, "It was certainly a pleasure to meet you, Emma. Take care of your face. Wouldn't want to lose your modeling job or your self worth from an accident. Let's go pay for our things, Taylor." Lisa turned and started walking towards me. Emma seemed to snap out of her shock after a few seconds and in an effort to regain some control shot forward, aiming to grab Lisa's ponytail. I snatched her arm by the wrist before she got close, squeezing tight enough to draw a pained hiss from her.

"What do you think you're doing?" I asked calmly.

"Let me go!" Emma snapped, yanking her arm back but finding no give.

I shook my head. "You really are pathetic, Emma. I should probably feel bad for you but, like I said yesterday, I can't be bothered to think about you. Go about your shopping or whatever, but if you try to fuck with my friends again," I squeezed her arm tighter making her grit her teeth and pull back in pain, "I will hurt you."

I let her go and she fell to her knees holding her wrist. Lisa and I paid for our things without anymore trouble.

—

"I think I'm gonna drop out." I said idly as we stepped back into Lisa's apartment. We'd stopped to grab some take out on the way back and some smoothies.

"Of school?" She asked, dropping our bags on the floor next to the couch.

"Yup." I nodded, putting the food on the table. "I'm kinda tired of it all, you know. Like, I'm taking the early exit exam after I turn sixteen in June and I don't necessarily have to finish the year to be eligible. It's an "and/or" kinda deal. I only have to fulfill one of the criteria to take it."

"If that's what you have to deal with on a daily basis, I honestly don't blame you." Lisa sighed. "That redhead is a real bitch. I can't believe she tried to grab my hair."

"Yup. Didn't used to be that way, but I'm past the point of caring. I just want her and Sophia out of my hair. Besides, being able to devote more time to the Espada will be better for us in the long run."

"Well, I won't tell you not to. Long as you feel it's the right choice, I won't fault you. Especially since you have to deal with her every day."

"Oh, it's worse than that. Most of the faculty is trash too. They just actually don't care. They act like they do, but only to the point where they can cover their asses. Winslow is such a shit hole that kids brandishing knives isn't seen as a threat."

"That does sound pretty bad." Lisa nodded as we sat down at the table. "You gonna just stop going or are you going to turn in the paperwork for it?"

"Paperwork. Last thing I need is truancy fines. Do you think you could forge my dad's signature?"

"If I see it, probably."

"Great, that makes this easier. I'll just drop by the school during lunch when this is all over and get Blackwell to sign off. Doubt she'll give much resistance since she barely cares in the first place."

"I'll drive you. Make things easier."

"I appreciate that." I said. "And earlier."

"Earlier?" She looked up from her food.

"Standing up for me in the store. It's been a while since I had a friend that would do that."

"That's nothing Taylor. Honestly, I just can't stand people like that. All the double speak and acting like their being nice and talking shit behind your back. I could never stand the Mean Girls types." She waved her hand.

"I couldn't either, honestly. Still, I appreciate it. It's been a while since I've had anyone willing to go to bat for me like that."

"Don't worry about it. You stepped up for me right after."

"If nothing else, I'm a loyal friend." I said.

"Still, it's a good thing you stopped that bitch from grabbing my hair. I would've sent her straight to the psych ward if she grabbed me. I've never caused someone a mental breakdown before, but I would not have hesitated to give her one."

I shrugged. "If you run into her again and she tries some shit, I won't stop you."

"She'd deserve it if she doesn't try anything."

"True enough. So, do you know what the deal is with the truce?" I asked, wondering how things were coming along so far. I didn't have any way for the other leaders to contact me so I was in the dark on the planning.

"We're still trying to figure out where Bakuda might be hiding. From what Coil and I have managed to figure out, she's switching warehouses every other day or so. I wouldn't be surprised if she reuses a warehouse every few days just to throw people off her trail. Once we Thinkers and the info gatherers have it narrowed down to a few spots that we can hit all at once we'll deal with teams."

"Alright. I'll buy a new burner so they have a way to contact me. I'd like to keep as many of us from the Empire as possible. Purity definitely can't be on the same team as an Empire Cape and especially not if she's alone. I'll probably send Nihilus with her. She'd be able to help better than if something happened while she were with Samael."

"You think Kaiser would try something during the truce?"

"Like Purity said, if he thinks he can get away with it, sure. I certainly don't trust him not to try anything."

Lisa nodded. "I can see that. If Purity were alone with someone like Hookwolf then we'd have a serious problem on our hands."

"Exactly. So I'd like to avoid that. If anyone is going to be with a the Empire alone, I'd prefer it be me. They can't actually hurt me and it would give me better justification for fucking shit up after the truce is done."

"Speaking of, who are we going after first?" She asked. "I want to start working on the logistics for that. Once the ABB is gone the Empire and Coil will be the only other major gangs in town. Faultline is a mercenary, Uber and Leet aren't really worth bothering with, and the Merchants are… Well, they're the Merchants." She sighed.

"I actually wanted to hit the Merchants first. Mush is in jail, unlikely to get out unless Skidmark and Squealer break him out, which they aren't dumb enough to do until after the truce ends. Once we have our turf carved out I saw we smash the fuckers. Skidmark straight to the PRT, Squealer straight to Las Noches, maybe clean up any druggies in the area like we plan on doing Squealer." I paused at that. "Would that technically count as Mastering someone?" I asked carefully.

Lisa hummed and bobbed her head to the sides, trying to work out an answer.

"I guess if they were really trying to nail you to the wall, they could make a case for it, but it would be flimsy at best and unless they were really out to get you the jury wouldn't even have people on it who would consider curing drug addiction in a negative light at all, power based or not."

"Ah, fuck it then. If they can't get that charge to stick than I'll just sweep wherever we are. That should hopefully be easier than actually having to fight any of those clowns."

"Well if you've got it all planned out then I'll link up with Theo about the Empire. All that's left to do until then is wait for the raids to start."

I nodded. It was looking to be a mostly relaxing week in that case. It's not like things could get that much worse in the time it took to find and capture Bakuda.

Right?


	29. Interlude 3.b

Vista had spoken with Taylor exactly once during the previous week that Bakuda had been bombing the city. She pointedly avoided bringing up the situation in the city and how useless she felt not being able to help more. The reason they'd only spoken once in that week was two fold. One, Vista was still thinking over what Taylor had told her about the PRT. She could see the points that she'd made play out live in real time as she worked every day. The second, The Wards had been basically locked down in the Protectorate HQ, which made it damn near impossible to actually open a Garganta and sneak off. She was lucky she managed it that once considering they were basically always on call. That was technically against the rules and guidelines of the Youth Guard, but none of the Wards were going to report them for it since they'd be the ones to pay for it.

The oil rig used for the Protectorate HQ was surprisingly homey and Vista would be lying if she said she didn't miss the place. The Wards room was a big common area just for them and split off into smaller rooms in case they wanted to sleep there. They'd tried to recreate it in the PRT HQ when they got moved, and it was definitely nicer in terms of decor, but she didn't feel as comfortable there. Maybe it was because she had spent more time in the room at the Oil rig, or maybe because she was just more comfortable not having the constant PRT Trooper presence everywhere she went, she wasn't sure. However, as much as she liked the place, being locked inside for over a week save for the few times she and Clock were called to help with unexploded bombs was not a fun time. Especially with Stalker going stir crazy and sliding deeper and deeper into pure bitchdom

That fact alone had her searching for any and every reason to try to make an escape to that place again. Being stuck inside with her teammates only served to magnify the problems she had with them and it would only be so long before she absolutely lost her shit. Some time to decompress away from them was definitely needed. She thought about how close she'd come to arguments or outright fights with some of them. Namely Shadow Stalker because the bitch could not keep her snide comments to herself to save her life. In this case, literally. Vista had used the power testing room by herself to see how far her strength had come. Let's just say if she actually decided to hit Stalker, the girl would end up a red mist rather than a pile of flesh.

Vista didn't know if the pile of flesh would be preferable. At least they'd have a body in that case rather than some blood stains.

Shaking the morbid thoughts from her head, especially after some of the wild shit she'd seen done to people over the last week, she moved back to her new powers. She'd found her new tattoo rather quickly, having seen it in the mirror after a shower on the back of her left shoulder. She couldn't wear thin strapped shirts or dresses anymore but at least it was in an easily concealable place.

"God this fucking sucks." Stalkers griping broke her from her thoughts. The girl was in full costume, pacing back and forth across the room, itching for something to do. "We should be out there looking for that Bakuda bitch, not sitting in here doing nothing!" She threw her hands in the air.

"The world must be ending." Vista said dryly, "Because for once we're actually on the same page, Stalker."

That gave the older girl pause, causing her to stop and stare at Vista for a long few seconds, the emotionless visage of her porcelain white mask fixed upon the younger girl in a way that most others likely would've been at least a little creeped out by.

"Damn right the world must be ending, pip squeak. Who'd have ever thought the PR star would rather be out knocking heads?"

Vista wanted to tell her to fuck off, but shook her head instead.

"Have you seen what she's done?" She asked instead.

"Of course I have. Everyone has seen what she's done." Stalker scoffed.

"No, I mean up close. Have you seen what her bombs can do up close and personal? I was in the PRT building when the bombs went off…" Vista trailed off as she thought about that day.

She, Dean, Carlos, and Chris had been sitting in the common area in the PRT building, Chris was in his room messing with some tinker stuff while she watched Dean and Carlos play a game. It sounded cliche, but it really was a zero to a hundred situation. Just sitting there enjoying the afternoon when BOOM! Explosions started going off left and right, shaking the building. In retrospect it reminded her of those movies that started on a calm forest scene and a bird flying by only to have it all go up in flames a second later or show it was the middle of a war zone.

The building started shaking and Carlos had gone to the console to see what was happening and they'd been told to suit up and get out the building ASAP. The elevator was down, they later found out it had been crushed lake a can from the inside, so they had to take the stairs. The first sign of how bad things truly were came with the wall on one of the floors turned to solid gold. They kept going, trying to get out and avoid as much of the damage as they could.

They finally made it to the lobby to find it destroyed. Half the room was glass and the other half was glassed. Debris and bodies littered the floor. Oh God, the bodies. The people who'd simply been blown up were the lucky ones. There were Troopers and people who were stuck in Gray Boy bubbles of the moment of detonation, being forced to relive being turned to dust or pulled into a black hole or wrapped in flames or ice. At least everyone else was dead instead of frozen in time or stuck in loops.

"Vista!" Stalker snapped her fingers in front of the younger girls face. "Earth to Vista, you still there?"

"Yeah…" Vista said. "As I was saying, you haven't seen what she can do up close. You hear about it or see it on the news, the stasis bombs or black holes or acid bombs or whatever flavor of bomb she can cook up. Seeing it up close though? The smell? Seeing people you know and work with emaciated from getting a dose of radiation so high they immediately started puking up blood and organs? Watching someone die and reset only to die again by whatever fucked up effect the bomb that went of near the Gray Boy bomb had?" Vista shook her head. Her voice was hollow as she spoke and the fact Stalker hadn't said anything while she spoke meant she was letting things sink in. "It's a lot worse up close."

"Jesus…" Stalker finally said, her voice low.

"So knowing that she's doing that to random people out in the city because they happen to be near her targets or won't do as she commands them? I want her gone. I want her dead if we can swing it. I'd drive the knife into her neck myself if I could for what she's done." Her voice was hard and some of her pent up anger bled through. Shadow Stalker even did a double take to make sure she was actually with Vista and not a clone or body double.

"Jesus fucking Christ." Stalker said. "Well, I guess I was wrong about you."

Vista got up, looking to take a walk around the edge of the Rig for some fresh air.

"I'm young, Stalker, not some doll. I take my job seriously and that requires I do even the parts I don't like wholeheartedly. Just because the higher ups want me to act a certain way doesn't mean that's really me."

She left before the older girl could respond to her.

Walking around the Oil Rig had always been relaxing. There was a walking trail along the perimeter so the Protectorate members could get some fresh air and keep watch of things at the same time. Vista often used it before the move to the PRT building to get some free time and relaxation. White noise machines were nice, but nothing beat the actual feeling of being near the water. The sounds of crashing waves went better with the smell of the ocean air. It was a far easier and less violent way to relax on base and she found herself doing so a lot more frequently than she used to. Not necessarily because she was getting frustrated easier, but because she really liked the calm state of zen that washed over here when she was out near the water. She felt like an old person just thinking it, but it was nice to just sit and be instead of worry about everything that was going on.

She often used this time to think. Now, her mind slipped to Armsmaster. She'd asked multiple times for a weapon of some sort, even something that was concealed or didn't look like a weapon like taser gloves. It was a no go every time and he was starting to get as annoyed with her asking as she was with having to ask.

She shook the thoughts from her head. No point in worry about that now. She'd rather just relax and maybe think about sneaking off and hopefully seeing Taylor that night.

—

"Oh, hey." Taylor said when Vista stepped through the portal.

"Hi." Vista said. "Why are you smoking every time I see you?"

Taylor shrugged. "I just like smoking she said dismissively.

"Uh huh. Well, I've been thinking about what you said the first time." Vista offered.

"Your feelings on the heroes are your own. I wasn't trying to sway your opinion, just give you mine and maybe show you some things you didn't see."

"Well you really opened my eyes in that case. This whole thing with Bakuda has made it more than obvious. You'd think they'd have stopped her by now, but it's all damage control." Vista's voice held and edge of bitterness in it.

"To be fair, from what I know Bakuda is making herself as hard to find as possible. We sure as hell haven't been able to find her and we've searched just about everywhere we could think to search."

"Still, you'd think someone would have managed to find her by now."

"Tell me about it. I'm sick of her bombing everything. I'm a little surprised she hasn't gotten a Kill Order at this point."

"I said the same thing." Vista shook her head. "If you don't mind my asking, what are you guys doing about Bakuda?"

"We're waiting to find where she is. Then we're going to raid her bases once it's all figured out."

"Waiting? On who?" Vista asked curiously.

"Some of the villain Thinkers."

"You're working with the villains?"

"Unfortunately." Taylor scoffed, as if offended by the idea.

"Why? Why would you work with the people you say you hate?"

"Because sometimes you have to work with people you hate. It's an unfortunate fact of life. When this is over I plan on ripping Coil and Kaisers assholes open so wide that doctors in France will be able to check their colons, but for now I'm willing to let sleeping dogs lie if it means getting rid of a bigger threat. That's the main virtue of the Endbringer fights, isn't it?"

Well that was an annoying but correct point.

"Do you mind if I ask you something kind of personal?"

"Maybe. I might now answer."

"That's fine. Just, I want to ask." Vista said quickly.

"Fair enough, I guess. Go ahead."

"When you were my age did you think you'd be… Well, not a villain but not a hero?"

Taylor tilted her head to the side and sighed, the smoke partially obscuring her face for a few seconds.

"How old are you?"

"Twelve, almost thirteen."

"Hm… Well, when I was your age my mom had just died, so most of my thoughts were grief."

Vista's face was one of horror.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to—."

"Relax. I know what you mean. The answer is I used to see myself as a hero. Always wanted to be Alexandria as a kid. Fly in and beat up all the bad guys and all that." She smiled a bit as she thought about it. "Used to be that being a hero was all I could think to do with powers. Then by the time I got some…"

"What happened?" Vista asked. "What changed?"

"My views. Funny how it only takes a few years to really change how you think and see the world. Losing my mom already made the world a bit dimmer but things just kinda went down hill and snowballed from there. By the time I got powers it wasn't "Let's be a hero and stop all the bad guy" it was "How best can I fix this city?" You know? The older you get the less idealistic you get. It just happened early for me."

"Less idealistic? You mean like you think the Protectorate Capes aren't in it just for the good of helping people."

"Exactly. The vast majority of them have something else that drives them. I won't say every hero has something selfish that pushes them to do their job, hell, I'd even say most of them still generally believe in fighting for what's right. But I don't think helping the little guy gives the kind of satisfaction that drives someone to wake up every morning willing to jump through all the hoops the heroes do."

"That's so pessimistic."

"I tend to lean that way, yes. It's not so much that I expect bad things to happen, more that I understand Earth Bet is where hope comes to die. The lows are really low and the highs aren't very high at all."

Vista blanched. This girl was going to have her breaking out philosophy books at this point.

"I don't like the way you think, but at least you always offer interesting conversation, Sacrosanct."

"Ah, so you figured it out." Taylor smiled, looking slightly impressed.

"I remembered hearing that Sacrosanct had a 1 on her hand. Just put two and two together."

"That automatically makes you more competent then most of the people on PHO. Some of those dudes will have all the facts laid out and still claim they got six."

"Yeah, I try to avoid being on there too much. Those people are so over the top." Vista stood and stretched. "It was nice talking, but I should probably go before anyone notices I'm gone."

"Alright. I should probably be heading back too before my friend starts wondering about me."

"We should do this more often."

"I wouldn't mind that. Maybe some tea next time."

"That feels over the top."

"It won't be."

The two parted ways. Vista and Clockblocker got called for two bomb situations, which they stopped easily, but no matter how much they did, Vista couldn't help but feel like they weren't doing enough.

She decided to leave it. Expecting to much would drive her mad. She just had to remind herself that if she lived where hope came to die, she was on the side doing their damn best to keep her on life support. The thought made her sleep a little easier.


	30. grinding 3.4

The virtue of pessimism is that you're always either right or pleasantly surprised. So color me real surprised when, come Thursday, we had figured out a few places Bakuda might be that night and the mad bomber hadn't escalated again. She didn't slow down by any means, there were still bombs going off at least once an hour, but she hadn't upped that to two or three bombs per hour, so there was a silver lining there. It was razor fucking sharp silver lining, but it was still there.

Lisa had spent most of the week with the Undersiders helping gather info on Bakuda and the ABB, which left me time to either sit around her apartment or be out helping with the bombs. I spent most of my time on the latter, but today I wanted to relax so I'd be fresh for tonight. There was a chance we'd be fighting Faultline's Crew and I wanted to be at full capacity. I'd want to avoid accidentally killing any of them. Of all of them, Labyrinth and Faultline herself were the biggest threats. I was pretty sure I was immune to Newter's poison to some degree, I could phase through Gregor's slime, and I doubted Spitfire could actually do much damage to me provided she hit me. Labyrinth, though, could drastically change the battlefield and that would make things harder. Faultline, depending on where we fought, could just drop a building on us. I'd survive it, but that was still a less than ideal situation to be in.

The door opened and Lisa walked in, putting some food on the kitchen table.

"Hey, Lisa."

"Hey Taylor. You're not going out today?" She asked.

"No. Wanna think over my plans for tonight. Unsurprisingly I got stuck on Kaiser's squad." I sighed.

"I know. Bitch will be with you too. And Kaiser refuses to go anywhere without Fenja and Menja." Lisa shook her head and sat on the couch, handing me a to go box.

"Thanks." I said, popping it open. "I'm a bit worried about Purity being with Hookwolf, but Theo should be able to keep an eye on that. I doubt the hunk of metal could actually kill her, but he could do some damage."

"You think Purity beats Hookwolf in a fight?" She asked, somewhat incredulous.

"Flying Blaster? Yeah. I mean, Hookwolf has to have a weak point somewhere on him and she'd hit it eventually with big enough blasts."

"That's assuming he has a weak point though. What if he doesn't?" She asked, grabbing the remote and switching to the news.

"Then she loses when she runs out of power. Why do you want to watch the news?"

"It's good exercise for my power and I want to know what's going on. You don't like the news?"

"I usually only watch the morning news. Dad has the TV all night and I'm usually at school when the day time news is on. Or at least out in the city."

"Well it's a good way to keep up with all the things happening in the city."

"Sure." I half scoffed. She was right, but from my limited experience with day time news it would mostly be boring nothing news, borderline fear mongering, or artificial human interest stories..

We watched for a few minutes before it eventually came to the main story for the hour.

"Now, our top story; The PRT have issued a Kill Order for the Cape known as Bakuda who is currently responsible for the mass bombings taking place over Brockton Bay for the last two weeks."

"What?!" I shouted standing up and tossing my food from my lap and all over the coffee table. "God dammit." I sighed, fixing it and placing it on the coffee table. "I was fucking joking about putting a Kill Order on her! She can't die!"

"Are they fucking stupid?" Lisa asked. "Who thought this was a good idea?! Are they trying to get half the eastern seaboard turned to glass? Pennsylvania will be a coastal city! See you down in Kentucky fucking Bay!"

"Shit… Shit! Fuck, what are they thinking?! Didn't Coil tell them about the dead man switch?"

"He should have." Lisa sighed, rubbing her temples. "The only reasons I can think of that they’d put out a Kill Order on her is that they don’t believe she can really take out as much as she says or Coil just didn’t tell them. I'm not sure which is worse. If we don't get her tonight we're gonna have a bunch of crazed bounty hunters down here looking to collect the reward. If we're wrong and she's not where she is, we're all absolutely screwed. I don't think even you can fix that much damage."

"I don't either." I collapsed back into the couch. "God I hope this doesn't go to shit last second. Not to mention what would happen if… you don't think…"

"I hope not." Lisa sighed, catching my meaning.

"But if she does…"

"Then we're really screwed."

"You think she'll high tail it outta the city?"

"Doubt it. She's more likely to attack the PRT again than give up the ABB."

"Do you think she'd be vindictive enough to—."

"God I fucking hope not. She strikes me as the type to be that petty, but I think her life is worth more to her than winning."

"That's good. That's good. It means we've still got a chance. This hasn't gone all the way tits up." I sighed. "You think if I trap her in Vacio Mundo it counts as her being dead?"

"Not sure." She shrugged. "I'd need to see something similar before I had definitive answers to that, unfortunately. Nice name you came up with by the way."

"Thanks. Spent about half an hour thumbing through a Spanish-English dictionary."

"It shows." She smirked.

"Bite me." I drawled.

Lisa took a deep breath and sighed. "I have a feeling I'm going to need to get back to work on finding Bakuda. If she hears about this and gets too paranoid—."

She was cut off by the sound of an explosion, followed by another, then another, all across the city.

"Fuck, she knows." I said.

"I hope I'm still able to fight after this, because I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have to down a whole bottle of pain killers to deal with the headache this is gonna give me."

"Please try not to short circuit." I said, standing up and changing into my costume. "I'll call the others so we can do another few hours of search and rescue." The building shook from an explosion really close to us as I pulled out my phone. "Oh I'm so gonna make that bitch pay for this." I growled.

"Just don't kill her." Lisa said as we made went our separate ways.

—

The bombs didn't start sowing down until almost eight, which we assumed she'd burned through the stock of bombs she'd already hidden around the city. It was actually horrifying to think about in retrospect. I hadn't kept a proper count, what with all the chaos and fixing buildings and people, but with the number of bombs going off every hour I'd estimated she'd had almost three hundred of them hidden around the city. I tried very hard not to think about the things she'd done.

It was ten and the raids were set to start at eleven. We were supposed to meet up with our designated groups at ten-thirty to start going over the plan. Kayden was with us in Las Noches as we went over the revised plan. She was nice enough to cook for us, and the woman could certainly cook, so we didn't have to skip dinner.

With Bakuda escalating again as a result of apparently feeling she had nothing to lose when she learned she had a Kill Order our initial four potential locations had been nearly tripled to ten potential locations. Raid team two, consisting of Crusader, Alabaster, Stormtiger, Tattletale, and Regent was the only team not expected to hit more than one place as a result of not having the level of mobility we provided to a team.

"Alright, let's go over this one more time." I said as everyone finished eating. "Because the PRT decided, for some ungodly reason, to announce a Kill Order on Bakuda despite possibly knowing that she has a dead man switch we're basically on a timer here. We get Bakuda tonight or risk losing the whole city and possibly half the east coast if any of the bounty hunters manage to get her. Nihilus, you're with Ballistic, Rune, Victor, and Othala, the latter of which will be hanging back. You're good to go since you're the only heavy hitter on that team. Any concerns?"

"Nope." She shook her head.

"Great. Purity, you're the one I'm worried about. Being on a team with Hookwolf, Krieg, and Cricket is bad for you. However, Samael should be able to keep them from hurting or killing you. Genesis being there should help mitigate their ability to try anything. I recommend you stay in his line of sight and don't go with any of the others. Like you said, I wouldn't put it past them to try something if they think they can get away with it. Concerns?"

"What do we do if we find Bakuda?" Samael asked. "I don't think I have a reliable way of disabling her like everyone else. It's all gas no brakes with me."

"Long as she doesn't die or isn't in danger of dying, we're good. You can turn her into a human nugget if you think you need to, she just can't be killed. Tattletale said her detonator is kept in her boot, so you can blast a foot of if you want. I'm not sure if sending her to Vacio Mundo counts as killing her, so I'm going to avoid it, but I'm probably going to take a bone or two out of her to keep her down. We can't kill her, but a Kill Order means we can act as needed to put her down."

"What about you?" Purity asked.

"What about me?" I cocked my head to the side.

"You're with Kaiser and Fenja and Menja. He could easily stab you in the back. Literally."

"I never told you my power set did I?" I asked slowly.

"No." She confirmed."Is it something that will help against Kaiser?"

I shook my head. "I can't be hurt."

"What?" She asked, confused.

"I can't be hurt. My powers make it impossible to do any lasting damage to me unless I let it. I can phase through any attack I see coming and make so that any that catch me off guard never happened in the first place."

"Oh… That makes sense." She nodded.

"Alright, it's time to head out. It might be difficult, but the rest of you can still get hurt, so watch your backs."

They all nodded and we each opened a Garganta to our destination.

I stepped out into the cool night air, a few feet above a roof top. Bitch was tending to her dogs, slowly making them larger. She looked at me for a second before going back to what she was doing. Kaiser stood on the opposite side of the rooftop with Fenja and Menja. Trickster was off to the front smoking.

"How nice of you to finally show up." Kaiser said sarcastically.

I ignored the jab and jumped straight to business.

"So what's our plan of attack? Are we going shock and awe? Just Blitz the target? Or do you want to go more subtle?"

"We're going to split up. Trickster and Bitch attacking from the back while Fenja and Menja and I will attack from the front. Since you're the only one of us who can fly you will clear the top floor and meet with us once it's clear." Kaiser said.

The plan was sound. He might be a massive piece of shit, but I couldn't fault the mans ability to plan. At least in the short term. Picking a fight with me was the worst thing he'd ever do and I hoped to show him that by the end of the night.

"Right." I nodded.

"Good." He opened his armor at the wrist to check his watch. "Thirty seconds to get into position, ten second to breach after that. Let's go."

I was the first into position on top of the rundown warehouse in the docks we were attacking. I checked the others were in position and waited for the sound of crashing to slip through the roof.

The inside of the ware house was more open than I was anticipating. The top floor was wasn't really separated from the rest of the large room accept by height. You could look over the side of the second floor and shout down to someone on the first with no problems. The roof was largely held up by tall concrete pillars. It was exactly the kind of place Faultline would set up as a trap.

Which was why I wasn't all that surprised to see her and Gregor on the far end of the second floor. She spotted me and I spotted a detonator in her hand. We made eye contact, sort of, and I glared at her.

"Don't you fucking—."

She clicked the detonator, igniting small charges she'd placed on some of the pillars, and dropped the roof on us.


	31. Interlude 3.c

Madison wasn't entirely sure what to expect when she arrived at the meeting location for her teams raid. She wasn't worried, at least not for herself, but she wasn't sure what to think of her teammates for the night except for Grue. She knew him, knew she could work with him no problem. She hadn't talked to Ballistic, so didn't know much about him except what Tattletale had told her and that was only that he was gruff and tended to be rough around the edges but was generally tolerable. The Nazi's, however… She wasn't sure she could trust them to not be racist long enough to get this night over and done with.

She counted herself lucky it was only Victor, Rune, and Othala. She felt bad Purity and Samael had to deal with Krieg, Hookwolf, and Cricket, but she wasn't going to trade. No sir, she was not the one to deal with that powder keg. She'd probably do something that would get whole group into trouble. Samael might have had the most destructive powers, but it was a lot harder for him to blow someone up than it was for her to pop their head with a bubble. In fact, she'd gotten so used to using her bubbles she started doing so almost unconsciously at times. She'd be at school or at home and just find a bubble floating in her field of view. She almost annihilated one of her favorite stuffed animals once when she'd made some without thinking.

Taylor had said it was from getting used to her powers. She explained that she'd done the same thing with phasing for a while after mastering it, just casually walking through walls or grabbing thing out of the fridge without opening the door. All it meant was they had to be conscious of when they used their powers so they wouldn't out themselves. It was annoying, but she'd get used to it.

She stepped through the other side of the Garganta to her teams designated meeting spot, an empty building across the street from their target. The building looked more like it was in the middle of construction than abandoned, though she guessed both could be true at the same time.

Ballistic was sitting on the unfinished staircase while Grue was keeping an eye out on activity from their target. Rune was walking around touching chunks of brick, concrete, or any sheet of metal she could find while Victor and Othala sat on the floor on the opposite side of the room.

"Nihilus, glad you could make it. You're the heaviest hitter we have." Grue said, glancing back at her before looking back at the target building.

"What can you do?" Ballistic asked.

"Shaker with some Trump stuff. I can make bubbles filled with pressurized air and create a domain field that lets me set the terms." She explained. "Also have a brute rating."

Ballistic grunted but nodded.

"You can fly right?" Victor asked, getting up.

"Kinda. Why?"

"I want you in the sky with Rune while we breach. Make sure no one leaves and nothing can get the drop on us from the outside. You'll watch the West end where Grue and Ballistic will be infiltrating while Rune will watch me and Othala on the east end." He explained.

"Wait, Othala is coming with you?" She asked, confusion evident even through her masks warble.

"Yes. You have a problem with that?" He stood a bit straighter, trying to intimidate her.

Madison raised her hands in surrender.

"No, no problem. Just surprised. She doesn't have the type of powers you'd want on the front lines."

"Her powers work best on contact. I can protect my wife from whatever we face."

"I never said you couldn't. Anything more to that plan?"

"Not particularly. Deal with threats as needed, avoid lethal force, don't get bombed. That's all there is to this."

"Fair enough."

"We move out in ten. Get ready if you aren't." He ordered before going back to Othala.

Madison watched the others idly at first, not really bothering to engage anyone. Until she noticed that Rune had run out of things to touch.

"You're a tactile telekinetic right?" Madison asked.

"Why?" Rune asked, her voice harsh.

"You should get some rebar." She suggested.

"What?"

"Rebar. You know, those metal poles inside walls and stuff? It could be like a spear or something when you throw it with your power. And since rebar is thing and it's night, whoever you hit with it probably won't see it coming."

"And where do you propose I get rebar in here? It's not like I can take a walk to the hardware store."

"Well," Madison started, floating a bubble up to one of the thick pillars around the room and popping it, revealing the thin metal bars beneath the concrete and plaster, "I did say it was in walls."

"That still doesn't help—." Rune stopped talking as she watched Madison rip a strip of rebar from the pillar like it was made from plastic and straighten it out.

"So, how many do you think you'll need?" Madison asked, holding the fifteen inch pole out to Rune.

"Can I have thirty?"

"Sure."

—

The building they were targeting wasn't all that large. It was a single floor factory or production facility or something like that, Madison didn't know which. It was on the edge of the docks leading into the Trainyard, so chances were it was a place for storing shipping containers to prep them for transport by train. She knew that places like this tended to have large open spaces and ling lines of sight. If Bakuda was here she would have the time of her life firing off bombs at range. She might not be able to move well in Grue's darkness, but that didn't really matter when you had bombs that could do the things hers could. She and Ballistic would be the only ones who could actually do damage in that case, and Ballistic might just end up killing her.

She gave the thumbs up and Rune did the same. Ballistic touched the door and sent it flying off its hinges into the building while Victor used a blast charge. Why he didn't just have Rune throw something through the door was beyond her, but she wasn't going to think about that. She and Rune examined the area around the building for a minute, explicitly ignoring the sounds of fighting from inside like Victor told them before going in.

It was immediately a cluster fuck. Grue and Ballistic were trying to deal with Oni Lee while Victor took on Newter and Spitfire. Othala was staying back to offer support, touching him whenever he seemed to need it or moving behind him when she was about to get attacked. The building was littered with shipping containers and broken machinery but there was still a clear path to the opposite side.

Patches of darkness were scattered around the area, limiting where Oni Lee could teleport to. The problem was it also blocked Ballistic's line of sight. Madison summoned bubbles to try to help block Oni Lee, only to palm her face when he teleported past them. They were clear, so of course they didn't block his sight enough for that to work.

She heard a click behind her and moved. She felt the heat from the massive explosion, but didn't bother to see what it did.

"This is ridiculous!" Grue shouted, rolling away from one of the grenades. "We need to stop him. I can't blanket the area or he starts tossing grenades everywhere." He said.

"He's too fast for me to hit. By the time I can fire he's already moved." Ballistic said.

"I can keep up with him." Madison said. She didn't necessarily need to, but the chances of hitting him with her bubbles were low when he could teleport from place to place instantly with a look. She heard another click and dashed away. "Now if only I could find him." She growled.

"Here!" Grue called. Madison was on him in a second, kicking at him only for the black clad man to explode into dust.

Her eyes scanned the area and she spotted him, getting in front of him before he could blink. She punched and he exploded into dust again.

It was like the most intense game of cat and mouse the world had ever seen. Oni Lee would teleport only to be accosted by Madison a second later, even destroying his clones before they could pull the pin on whatever bomb he had. With Grue limited where he could teleport and Ballistic firing off shots of ball bearings to keep him in, Oni Lee had to get more creative. He started dropping bombs the second he landed, hoping to get Madison off guard. He got her, once, with a fire bomb. It did no damage to her and actually spooked him enough he seemed to consider running.

"One down!" Victor called.

She looked to see Spitfire on the ground, arms tied with twisted rebar.

Thinking Oni Lee was distracted, Madison lunged at him. He turned to dust as her foot met his head and Rune screamed.

"Othala!"

The looked to see the young woman dropping to the floor behind her husband.

"You'll pay for that you—." Victor wound up for a punch only to have a grenade stuck to his chest. He tried to pull it off but his top half was gone before he could touch it.

"Of fuck!" Newter shouted, backing away from the bodies.

"You'll pay for that!" Rune shouted, all of the rebar pieces she had shot towards Oni Lee, who turned to dust.

Grue and Ballistic were running over to help in some way.

Rune was going crazy, the debris she had spinning around and shoot at ever place she even thought she spotted Oni Lee, who was teleporting around the room like mad. He couldn't get close enough to Rune to stab her and none of his clones survived long enough to suicide bomb her.

Ballistic joined in trying to hit Oni Lee while Grue put up some clouds to limit his teleporting. It was chaos, everyone except herself, Newter, and Spitfire throwing their powers around.

"Enough!" Madison shouted, throwing down a Negative Zone large enough to cover the building. Grue's Darkness disappeared and Rune fell from the sky.

Oni Lee apparently saw this as his chance. He dropped two grenades to distract Madison and tried to teleport to Rune only to find himself still in place. The realization didn't last long before he was blown to bits, air and fire grenades sending him up in an instant inferno that left nothing left when it was over.

The room was quiet for a moment before muffled sobbing could be heard from Rune.

"Fuck." Grue sighed.

"Newter." Madison called, startling him out of his shock and awe.

"Y-yes ma'am?" He asked, backing away slightly.

"Where's Bakuda?"

"I-I don't know. Only Boss knows right now. We split up earlier tonight and were told to come here."

"You know what happens if I find out you're lying, right?" She asked sweetly, bubbles floated down and annihilating the ground next to him.

"I'm not!" He shouted in panic. "I swear to God I'm not lying, please!"

"What do we do now?" Ballistic asked.

"I guess we go to our next spot." Grue sighed.

"What do we do about her?" He pointed to Rune, who had calmed down a bit.

"No idea." Madison said. "Rune! You can go if you want. No one will make you stay after losing teammates."

Rune didn't say anything, didn't move. The others shrugged, unsure of how to help her. They didn't like her, how could they considering the gang she was in, but they did feel a bit bad for her losing her teammates and, if her reaction was anything to go by, close ones.

"W-what are you going to do with is?" Newter asked.

"Not sure. What do you think we should do?" Madison asked.

"L-listen, we didn't want it to go this far! Bakuda hired us for security and started making threats when we wanted to back out."

"Well, I don't really care what you do or why. But you should probably leave before Rune decides she wants you dead as conspirators."

Newter nodded, grabbing Spitfire and taking off for the back door.

"We're really gonna let them leave?" Ballistic asked.

"They aren't our objective. Let's get—." Madison's phone buzzed and she pulled it from her dress. "Never mind. Sacrosanct said they caught Bakuda. We're good to go."

The others nodded and Madison dropped her field, letting powers come back. The whole fight had lasted maybe twenty minutes and she felt exhausted. The after action report was going to suck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was supposed to be 3.5, and I hadn't originally planned for interludes here, but I needed more time for that and decided showing these bits instead of telling after the fact would be better. I actually expected this to be longer than it was, but I think it ended up fine without too much fluff.


	32. Grinding 3.5

The ceiling didn't even make it to the floor of the second story before I reversed it. Faultline was confused long enough at the suddenly intact ceiling that I got close and snatched the detonator from her hand, destroying it with a small Cero blast straight into the air.

"You crazy bitch." I said fairly calmly for having just had a building nearly dropped on me.

Faultline didn't say anything, but Gregor reared back to shoot something at me. I stepped forward, slamming my palm into his stomach and sending him flying at the back wall. I heard some of the shells on his back shatter as he bounced off the wall.

I looked back at Faultline, who hadn't moved yet, apparently at a loss for what to do now with no detonator and no way to fight or contain me. I grabbed her by the front of her Kevlar vest.

"I didn't hear anything else explode. You only rigged this building. Why?"

Despite the situation, Faultline was calm as she spoke.

"We're just supposed stall you."

"For wh—." I stopped as the for wall suddenly turned to dust. The outside had twisted into something I couldn't fully comprehend. The world was twisting in on itself and transforming into… something. The longer I looked at the spreading chaos the harder it was to try to comprehend what it was I was looking at. There was just too much chaos, too much movement for my brain to make heads or tails of anything I was seeing and make it coherent enough for me to understand.

I shook my head, ignoring the spreading landscape and looked back to Faultline, who I imagined had a smirk on her face.

"That." She said.

"Sacrosanct! What's going on up there!?" Kaiser called.

"I got Faultline! She was stalling us for Labyrinth to get set up!"

"Well that's not good." Trickster said, suddenly next to me. "What are we supposed to do about that?" He nodded towards the chaos creeping towards us.

"Is Bakuda in that mess?" I asked.

"Somewhere down there, sure." She shrugged.

"You're being a lot more cooperative than I was expecting."

She shrugged. "Only reason I haven't backed out of this contract is Bakuda's threats."

"Threats? Like what?" Trickster asked as Kaiser made it to the top floor leaving Fenja and Menja with Bitch to watch the bottom floor.

"She threatened to bomb my business with my crew inside and Gray Boy it. I don't know you, but the last thing I want is eternal torture. Considering some of the things I've seen her do to underlings who fuck up her coffee, I wasn't taking the chance."

"Why'd you take the job in the first place? You knew what she was doing." I said, shaking her.

"She hired me before she started dropping bombs all over the city. She hadn't even detonated the PRT when we signed the contract. By the time I felt like backing out she was making threats I know she'd be more than happy to follow up on. She also gave us these." Faultline put her wrist out to show what looked like a smart watch. "Said they were communicators. Turns out that was a half truth because they're also fucking bombs. Gave 'em to us when we first started then told us they were bombs when we wanted to back out. Even killed a minion with one just to make sure we knew it wasn't a bluff."

"That's all well and good, but what do we do about that?" Trickster pointed to the spreading chaos that was only a few meters from taking us out.

"We need to get Bakuda tonight." Kaiser said. "She's liable to destroy the entire city if we don't do so."

"Unfortunately, he's correct." I sighed. "The only way out is through. Unless you know a better way?" I asked Faultline.

She shook her head. "I'm not anchored. I'd be in it as much as you are."

"Of course. Well, let's finish this quickly, hopefully."

The distortion spread over us and it took a few seconds to adjust to exactly what I was seeing. We were standing in a a tall Gothic building with winding staircases that branched out like spiderwebs hanging over a deep abyss that seemed to go on forever. Each branching staircase led to a platform with a door that shimmered like a mirror. Everything looked old, like it'd been left to rot for centuries. The place smelled similar to an old library or hospital, the stench of rotting paper and distilled chemicals permeated the air. There was no ambient sounds, just an eerie silence that felt like it absorbed all sound.

"So, Faultline, best guess on how real this is?" I asked, my voice echoing in the empty hall.

"She was pretty bad when I saw her earlier. Best guess, this is basically a different world."

I hummed. "Give me your arm, I want that bomb."

"This thing is basically bolted to my arm." She said, though she still put her arm out. I grab it by the top and pull the rest through her wrist, making her shiver. I drop the bomb down the abyss and watch it fall, listening for it to hit the bottom, but it never does.

"Okay, so don't fall." I said casually.

"If you're quite finished, we need a plan to get through here. And I think it best if we leave Faultline behind. With Labyrinth's power doing whatever this is she won't be of help to us. In fact, if Labyrinth has a bomb like she did, she'll be a liability." Kaiser said.

"Fuck you, Kaiser. You don't get to—." She stopped as a blade shot from the banister and stopped right before her heart, the point poking into her armor. I had my hand on her shoulder to keep him from killing her, but he had more self control than I was expecting.

"No, you are the one who doesn't get to make terms, Faultline. You filthy mercenaries are the reason Bakuda is and has been so difficult to capture before now. You're lucky I allow you to keep your life. You sit here and wait or things get bad for you. Consider it a blessing we don't hand you over to the PRT along with the chink."

"Racism aside, for now, Adolf is right that you're a liability with Bakuda having her hands on Labyrinth. Sit here and wait." I said.

"Fine." Faultline snapped. I could feel the sneer under her mask as she sat on the stairs.

"Now, do we split up or do this together?" I asked.

"I say together." Trickster said. "If we actually find her she'd kill any one of us by ourselves. Chances of beating her are higher if we're together."

"There are too many doors to waste time going together." Kaiser said. "We split up and call out if we find her."

"Even you can't beat her without killing her, Kaiser. She's got bombs for everything. It's safer to stick together."

"You two can waste time searching together if you like, but I will be going alone. If I find her, you will know." And with that Kaiser started down the stairs.

"That man is such a drama queen." Faultline said.

"People like him live for theatrics. I'm taking off. Holler if you find anything, Trickster." I said before using a Sonido to get to a different door. I stepped through to find myself right back where I started. "This is going to be like a Scooby-Doo chase, I just know it." I sighed.

Trickster and I took off down the stairs again. I marked the pathway I already took and we split up. I tried door after door, always ending up at another stair case or someplace I'd been before. I couldn't really tell how much time it was taking to get any of this done, but it felt like hours. I ran through a door after what, in my best guess, must've been five minutes of running around before I got frustrated.

"Mother fucking Non-Euclidean geometry! It's like a god damned M.C. Escher painting! This is bullshit!"

A loud whistle from somewhere beneath me snapped me out of my frustration. It repeated again, then again. I hopped the ledge, the whistling getting louder as I let myself fall before I came up on Bitch and her now less monster sized dogs standing at a doorway and stopped myself.

"This it?" I asked her.

"Think so. Brutus picked up her scent and this is where it's strongest." Bitch said.

"Great. Let's hope the others heard you. How'd you even know to signal if you found her?"

"Ran into that teleporter guy." She shrugged.

"Ah, yeah, okay."

A pole shot past the stairs and I heard the sound of metal scraping metal before Kaiser came sliding down the pole, making a platform to stand on and stepping off onto the stair case. Well, it was an entrance, I guess. Fenja, Menja, and Trickster followed suit.

"I'll take point. Count to… I dunno, thirty then come after me. I can run interference to keep her distracted. Her detonator is in her left shoe, so I'd recommend cutting her feet off. Maybe her hands too just to make sure." I paused in thought. "Probably should have brought a cooler for this."

"Will you get going?" Fenja snapped at me.

"Yeah, yeah, hold your horses, groupie."

"Wha— You—!" I ignored her fumbled screech of offense and stepped through the door way.

I ended up in a short, sterile white hall that led into a larger room with a dome at the center. I could easily see Bakuda standing inside with Labyrinth sitting at her side looking like a doll with cut strings. She was slumped back, propped up against Bakuda's work table. Her mask didn't hide her eyes and they were hollow and dull. I couldn't help but feel bad about how badly her power fucked her up. This was the level she had to fall to in order to use the full potential of her power. A lifeless doll that couldn't do more than sit there and act as a generator to maintain the worlds she built.

"Welcome!" Bakuda tossed her arms in the air in celebration while her voice was flat and mechanical. "I'm glad you could finally make it. It took you quite a while. You're Sacrosanct, right?"

"Yeah." I answer, eyes scanning the area.

"Great! Glad I got that right! I've seen videos of you on my short breaks. You're real interesting. Honestly, you're the only one whose powers I haven't been able to replicate as a bomb." She paused. "That's a problem. So, to make sure you aren't a problem, goodbye!"

She didn't make any moves, barely even twitched, and the hallway I was in erupted. Bombs went off for several second, all of their effects washing over my intangible form harmlessly. After it was over I stood there, looking at her rather unimpressed. Especially when I realized the hallway was just a box put in front of the doorway to act as a trap.

"I should probably be mad at that." I drawled. "But, honestly, I was pretty much expecting it. Your bombs might be unpredictable, Bakuda, but you're as predictable as a sunrise. I could see that coming from a mile away." I started walking lazily away from the door around the edge of the room. I made sure to make her spin away from the entrance.

There was a metallic groan that I realized was her growling.

"I am a genius!" Bakuda snapped. "Who are you to insult me! I understand my craft on the same fundamental level you understand fucking _breathing_! I'll end you, you dumb bitch!"

Well, that was easier than expected. Tattletale had said she was egotistical, but I didn't think she was _that_ egotistical. Who'd have guessed that something as mundane as calling her predictable would set her off so easily. I couldn't think of anyone with an ego that big with buttons so easy to press. They might as well have been the size of doors with big red signs saying "Push Me" right next to them. The others started coming in then starting with Kaiser.

A bomb shot from the wall behind me and I turned to catch it, sending it to Vacio Mundo before it could detonate.

"What did you just do to my bomb?" Bakuda asked, frustration apparent in her voice.

Everyone was inside now and Kaiser was about to make it to the glass when a bomb dropped from the ceiling in front of him. He barely managed to put up a wall before it detonated.

"Oh, you sneaky bastards!" Bakuda laughed, snapping around to face the sound of the explosion. "You really thought that would work? Did you honestly think I wouldn't have traps and fail safes?" She cackled madly, tossing her head back. "If that glass so much as cracks this place goes up like a flaming fireworks factory!"

"You'd die too!" Menja argued.

"Maybe, but not only do I already have a kill order, but if I die, well, you know what happens! The destruction will be my legacy! If I'm going to live my life on the run then I might as well go out in style if I can! No way I'm letting you limp dick fuckers get a win over me!" She laughed.

"Kaiser, get ready!" I called.

"Oh, you think you can—?" By the time Bakuda turned to face me I was through the glass with my hand nearly wrapped around her neck. I grabbed her and pushed forward, phasing us through the glass and slamming her on the floor next to Kaiser, who shot metal through her ankles and wrists.

The metallic drone of her screams was interesting. I couldn't think of any real equivalent for the sound. Her mask made kept emotion out of her voice so her screaming sounded flat and monotone. If I had to pick something it might sound like metal scratching against metal. Like two trains were too close to each other and their sides started grinding while they passed.

"Great, we got her. Now how do we stop Labyrinth's power?" Trickster asked.

"We probably need to snap her out of it. I'll try." I said.

"You motherfuckers!" Bakuda screamed. "I'll kill you! I'll kill all of you! I'll send this place up in flames! I'll destroy this entire dumpster fucking city! You think you can treat me like this?! I'm a genius!"

I phased through the glass again and walked over to Labyrinth while Bakuda continued to scream in impotent fury, unable to move since Kaiser had bolted her to the ground. She struggled, to the point I thought she might just be willing to rip her hands open or off just to get out.

"Hey," I kneeled down next to Labyrinth and tapped her. "You're done. You don't have to use your power anymore. It's over. Turn it off so we can get you back to Faultline."

I wasn't sure if she heard me at first, since nothing happened. But the word started to shimmer after a few seconds and things slowly started going back to normal. I pulled off the bomb Bakuda had apparently strapped to her neck at some point and texted Samael and Nihilus that we got her. I noticed the absence of Bakuda's raging after a moment and turned to see her knocked out and her mask slightly dented. For some reason, Bitch was the only person I could see doing that. I shrugged it off and grabbed Labyrinth as the world turned back to normal, though there was still some distortion around her.

The room we were in was apparently just some warehouse basement outfitted to work as a workshop. Bakuda had her minions go all out with the outfitting. Work tables were everywhere and each was covered in materials to the point where you could barely see the actual top of the desk. I'd heard Tinkers could be messy, but this was chaos.

We got back to Faultline and Gregor, who had apparently woken up at some point, and I handed off Labyrinth while the others discussed how to get Bakuda to the PRT.

"You know you guys should probably skip town for a while." I suggested.

"What?" Faultline asked, turning her attention from Labyrinth.

"I said you should probably skip town. No way people don't hear about this. Threats or not you guys aren't gonna have a lot of goodwill towards you after signing on with Bakuda. Should probably take a vacation for a few weeks. Let the heat die down."

"Why do you care?"

"I don't. Not really." I shrugged. "But considering all that's Bakuda's done and that you're technically accomplices, it's probably you get out of dodge. I have no real problems with you, which is why I'm giving you advice."

She stared at me for a moment, I imagined a blank look on her face and maybe a blink thrown in for good measure, before sighing.

"Yeah, thanks."

"Sacrosanct! We're leaving!" Trickster called.

"Gotta go. But seriously, take a vacation. And I'll take the bombs off everyone before you leave if you want." I said, grabbing the one on Gregor's wrist and taking it.

I walked back over to the others. I didn't trust Kaiser to take Bakuda to the PRT but he was smarter than to try anything, and Trickster went with him leaving me to meet up with my team.

I made it to Las Noches to find the others pretty much already waiting for me at the table. Theo had his mask off and he looked upset while Madison had a contemplative look on her face.

"So, how'd it go?" I asked as I sat down.

"Terrible. It took basically all we had to avoid a fight with the Empire members. Hookwolf even tried to stray hit me a few times thinking I wouldn't see it coming." Theo said.

"He's always been pretty vindictive." Purity sighed.

"Luckily nothing happened because that situation was basically a giant powder keg ready to go off at a moments notice."

"Well, I'm glad you guys managed to avoid a fight. How about you, Madison?"

"Oni Lee killed Victor and Othala, then accidentally killed himself. I'm trying to process if and how I feel about indirectly killing him." She said.

"Oni Lee is dead?" Purity asked.

"We'd gotten into a game of cat and mouse. He was teleporting too fast for me to hit, but I was too fast for his clones to use explosives. So he started dropping grenades before teleporting. After he killed Victor and Othala everyone started using their powers like pissed off third graders, so I shut it down. Oni Lee saw his chance to kill Rune and tried to teleport to her, dropping grenades to keep me busy. Then he went up in an inferno from the grenades." She explained.

"Damn. That's a hell of a way to go." Theo sighed.

"Yeah."

"I hope Rune's okay." Purity said.

"Huh?" I asked.

"She was actually family with Othala and Victor. Othala was her second cousin. She was living with them." Purity explained.

"Oh. Damn."

"Fuck, I couldn't imagine seeing my family die like that." Madison said.

It was silent for a second before I decided to give my update.

"Well, things on my end were interesting. Faultline tried to drop a roof on us, we had to run a maze made from Labyrinth's full power, and Bakuda showed the depth of her insanity when we caught her. Kaiser nailed her to the floor, which was interesting to see. He and Trickster are dropping her with the PRT."

"You know, this feels kinda anti climactic." Theo said.

"For you." I snorted.

"Definitely only you." Madison nodded.

"Alright, I guess that's it. I'll get Lisa's story tonight or tomorrow." I said, standing up to stretch. The others did the same, all ready to leave when a Garganta opened and a familiar girl in a red and white robe stumbled through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: So, quick update. Expect updates early morning PST instead of midnight that same time. I managed to get into a normal sleep schedule so I'm not usually up at midnight anymore. Earliest I'll upload is like 5 am my time. Also there were some things that I wanted to happen this chapter but didn't because I couldn't see Taylor not ending that fight asap, and the scenes would've required her to sit back and let the others plan around Bakuda instead of just grabbing her. I can probably use them later though, so that's nice.


	33. Interlude 3.d

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter and the next were supposed to be one chapter but I split them because I didn't want to do a chapter that switched perspectives and because this one ended up being longer than I was expecting. It starts after the Bank Robbery and spans until the night Bakuda is captured and the one after happens immediately after this, so this chapter goes from April 14-April 28. I kinda felt like giving GG some context to show she really is trying to help but just does it the wrong way because she feels its too urgent to let sit any longer. 3.e will add more context to that.

Contrary to what people believed about her online, Victoria Dallon was not a dumb bimbo. She could be emotional, rash at times, impulsive maybe, and that could get in trouble when she was out on patrol, but she wasn't stupid. In fact, she was rather intelligent. She prided herself on her brain as much as her looks and athleticism, even taking AP classes at the towns College on weekends. In addition, she felt she was good at reading people's emotions. She could tell when her mother was in a bad mood or when her father was too depressed to do anything but blankly stare at the TV or when she should and shouldn't bother Amy to get her in a better mood. She was rather adept at reading her family and she had them all figured out.

At least, she thought she did. In the weeks since the Brockton Central Robbery when she and her sister had run in to the Undersiders, Tattletale specifically, she felt like her world had been crumbling around her. It was slow at first, just small instances where she'd pick up something she didn't notice before. She thought it was just an instance. Happenstance. There was no way her mother was always that dismissive of Amy. Then it happened again. And again. And again. And she started noticing more and more things about how dysfunctional her family actually was. How her father was more responsive to her than Amy. How her mother sometimes got pensive if Amy talked about the hospital. Just little things that added up, spreading like termites or wood rot to start tearing down foundation of the image she'd built of her family.

As she noticed these things, she'd ask Amy about them. She didn't at first, noticing how she just seemed to brush it all off, but then she realized it wasn't that she was brushing off her treatment, it was that she was used to it. That had been a horrifying realization. The fact her sister was so used to being dismissed that way made her feel cold inside. When she did start asking, Amy brushed it off. Said it was fine and that things were okay. Vicky left it that the first few times, but it ate away at her and she kept asking and Amy kept brushing it off. Until she didn't. After a while she got annoyed with the constant prodding and started getting angry whenever it was brought up, making her back off.

In that time she'd noticed things about Amy's behavior too. She was usually withdrawn, but she'd initially chalked it up to her sister being an introvert. Knowing what she did, though, she realized it was more than that. Amy had a lot of pent up emotion she didn't do anything with. She noticed the twitch of anger or disdain when she talked about Dean. She noticed apprehension about going to the Hospital after school. She noticed how quiet she was at lunch with their friends. The despondency was coming from other things too but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Amy was always the hardest to get a read on, so figuring out why she was the way she was turned out to be more difficult than she'd initially thought. With that, she'd turned to the person she thought best to help her figure it out: Her on-again-off-again boyfriend Gallant.

"So do you know what's up with her? I've been trying to figure it out but I can't pinpoint what it is?" Vicky said, sipping a shake from the ice cream shop they'd just been in.

"Honestly…" Dean trailed off, "I'm not sure I can tell you. It's kind of invasive. I can't help it, but I'm not sure I should be telling other people."

"Please?" Vicky whined. "I'm really trying to help her and I need to know what's wrong with her so I can start. She just refuses to talk to me about her problems."

"Vicky…"

She leaned into him, whispering in his ear in the most sultry tone she could muster.

"I'll do that thing you like if you tell me."

Dean shuddered, but ate a few scoops of ice cream to cool down before shaking his head.

"I really shouldn't tell you what it is. It would probably be better to go to Carol or Mark."

"They're part of the problem." She sighed, annoyed both that her ploy hadn't worked and that she still hadn't gotten anywhere.

"What do you mean?" He asked, brow furrowed.

"Mom and dad are part of the problem. Mom is super dismissive of her and dad can barely keep up a conversation with me or mom, let alone Amy. She's my best friend you know? I just want her to be okay. I don't like seeing her so down, especially when it's a problem I'm sure we can start working on."

Dean was quiet for a few moments, eating some of his ice cream as he thought.

"She's burning out." He finally said.

"What?"

"She's burning out. Part of it is I think she has a savior complex."

"What's a savior complex?"

"It's when people feel like their purpose in life is to help others. Because of her powers she feels like she has to constantly be helping people and she feels she's failing people's expectations of her when she isn't out healing. She's starting to resent the people she heals. She's started hating it. If I had to guess, she's pretty close to a breakdown and the right pressure could make her snap."

"So how do I help her?" Vicky asked a bit impatiently.

"I'm not sure you can. There's something else going on with her, but I'm not sure of it so I won't tell you. Even if I was sure, I shouldn't be the one telling you. Just… Don't push too hard, alright? If you show her some support, let her know you'll be there to listen, there's a good chance she might come to you on her own."

"But if she's that close to a breakdown it would be better to try to get her help now. Maybe I can convince mom to put her in therapy. Do you think that would help?"

"It would help for her to have someone to talk to her issues about, yes, but forcing her to go is probably not the best thing to do. It's one of those things where the person has to be willing to be helped or it won't do anything but make her more resentful and closed off. If Amy doesn't want to go to therapy even if she should, it won't help her." Dean sighed.

Vicky sighed and melted into the bench, slumped in on herself but still drinking her shake as she thought over what she'd been told.

"Fine." She whined, "I'll leave it alone. For now. If she starts getting worse then I'm doing something about it."

"Just don't push to hard if you have to, alright?"

"Alright."

And she'd done just that. She'd told her sister she was there if she needed to talk about anything, giving her the usual "I love you and nothing could change that" spiel. It didn't seem to be working at first, but Amy seemed to be slowly making her way to explaining things to her. Then she started boosting the amount of extra work she was doing at the hospital since the bombs started. At first it was only an extra two or so hours a day. Five hours wasn't too bad, she figured her sister could handle that. Then she was spending upwards of ten hours a day there pulling late nights. She'd shut herself down and only focused on her work to the point where she was neglecting school. She'd tried to talk to her, but she wasn't having it. All she did was work and it was taking a bigger toll on her than usual. It was so bad they got into an argument when She'd refused to fly Amy to the hospital so she could rest instead.

"I'll just take the bus then." Amy scowled, trying to move past her sister.

"No!" Vicky said sternly. "You aren't going anywhere, you're going to go rest. You've been working yourself ragged since this started. You need a break, Ames."

"I can't. I can help people that were caught in the bombs! I need all the time I can get to help them!" Amy tried to push past, but it was about as effective as a child pushing a brick wall.

"When was the last time you got some sleep, Amy?" She asked.

"I slept last night." Amy crossed her arms indignantly.

"You slept for an hour and you haven't gone back to sleep since. You need to rest Amy! You can't help people effectively if you can't even take care of yourself properly!"

"They need me more! Have you seen the state some of those people are in? I have! The damage her bombs do is horrific. I need to be out there helping people, Vicky!" That was probably the part of her sister she loved and hated the most. She always tried to do good, even when it was bad for her. A good trait to have as a hero, but not to the point where it was causing the problems it had with her sister.

"You need to be in bed resting. There haven't even been any explosions today. They can go without you for a few hours. Long enough for you to get some proper sleep and food at least."

"Vicky." She said sternly, as though the anger in her eyes would make her move.

"No. Nothing short of the apocalypse is going to make me let you leave this house. I'll sit by your bed until you fall asleep if I have to, but you need rest."

Amy started to speak when they heard an explosion go off, followed quickly by others all across the city. The listened in stunned silence as the number of bombs they could hear gong off increased.

"Still think I need to get my rest before going out?" She asked smugly.

"You really shouldn't be so happy you win this." Vicky scowled. "But fine, I'll get you to the hospital. Promise me you'll try to grab a few naps while you're there at least."

"Fine. I'll take a break every few hours."

She sighed. "I guess that's the best I'll get out of you."

While she flew her sister to Brockton General, Vicky was getting ideas on how to handle her sisters issues. She settled on one that was a little extreme but could work if done properly. All she had to do was convince their parents to stay up a bit longer than usual.


	34. Interlude 3.e

As it stood, Amy probably should have been stumbling into the house, barely able to stand without her sisters help. She'd done as asked and had managed a few small naps here and there during her time at the hospital, but that didn't mean she wasn't tired. She was mostly running on more caffeine than was probably safe for a person, especially of her build, to consume. She wasn't wired, in fact she felt she was nearing a crash, but she would hopefully be asleep before she started feeling bad.

If she were lucky she wouldn't be dreaming that night. When she started at the hospital after getting her honorary medical license she'd seen a lot of things that kids her age shouldn't have been seeing. With the gangs in Brockton Bay, those things only got worse over time. The last few weeks, though, had really raised the bar on horrifying shit she'd seen on the job. The worst part, something the doctors would never be able to understand, was that she saw it all from the inside too. They knew, of course, that she could see it, but they'd never really understand that that entailed. Being able to see, with a touch, how shrapnel had pierced someone and what that did to them or feeling the bones and sinew stitch themselves back together under her power was a completely different beast than seeing the damage from the outside in.

She cut that train of thought as she made her way inside with Vicky right behind her. She'd worked until the doctors kicked her out since she shouldn't have been there as long as she was. They'd had to do that a lot recently, forcing her to leave the hospital when someone realized how long she'd been there with few to no brakes. They appreciated the help, as they said many times, but she simply wasn't allowed to work that long. She always felt a twinge of guilt leaving the hospital despite knowing there were people she could be helping, but she didn't want them to grab security on her. Or worse, have Lady Photon come pick her up.

She stopped as she saw Carol and Mark sitting in the living room apparently waiting for the two of them. For a moment she started to panic, feeling as if she'd done something wrong. She was ready to try to offer any explanation for anything, but her sisters hand on her shoulder calmed her down. She took a deep breath to slow her heart rate a bit, but it shot right back up when her sister spoke.

"Sit down, Ames. I think it's time we all had a talk." Vicky's voice was the kind of calm and placating she used when she had to tell people they were beyond even her help.

"What's this about?" She asked.

"Sit down and we'll talk about it. Vicky said, floating into the living room and sitting in Mark's recliner while she hesitantly sat at the end of the couch next to Carol.

"So, any reason you've kept us up this late? I have to be at work early tomorrow, Victoria." Carol sighed.

"We need to talk about how dysfunctional this family is." She said.

"Dysfunct—, this is ridiculous." Carol scoffed.

"Um…" Amy started, "Can this wait until tomorrow?" She was really not up for this right now. She was far too tired to navigate this the way she usually would.

"No, it's not, and no, it can't. I've noticed over the last few weeks we're barely a family. Dad hasn't been taking his meds, mom always feels like she's close to snapping about something, and you, Amy never open up about your feelings. That's not even to mention you're all Neglectful of Amy." Vicky said.

"Neglect—, where is this coming from, Victoria? I do not appreciate these accusations!" Carol snapped.

"They're true." Vicky said. "You treat her like she doesn't matter. She treats herself like she doesn't matter. Frankly, I think you should all be in therapy. Either alone or as a family. There are a lot of issues here and I'm worried we're going to hit a breaking point soon."

"Why bring this up now?" Mark asked.

"Like I said, I think things are getting out of control. I want to get to the bottom of it so we can start fixing things. You're problem is the least damaging to the family, I think. You should still go to therapy, but if you take your meds regularly I'm sure you'd start to feel better."

"I am not neglectful!" Carol said.

"Yes you are, mom!" Vicky said louder than she probably meant. "You're always working and you rarely ever spend time with the family. I can't remember the last time we had a meal together, much less talked."

"I've been busy with work." Carol defended.

"Vicky, please stop." Amy said.

"No. Your issues are the worst, Amy. You really need to take a break or find a way to relax. I talked to Dean when I realized something was wrong. All he said is he thinks you're burning out. I'm inclined to agree with him. You barely take care of yourself."

"I can help people. They're more important."

"No they're not!" Vicky snapped, standing up. She was floating a few inches off the floor. "Not to me." She said lowly. "You're my sister, Amy. I'm always going to want to see you happy. I hate it when you work yourself so hard you can barely stand like right now. I just want to help you and I can't do that unless you talk to me."

"Vicky…" Amy pleaded. She really was not in the place for this right now.

"Mom, can you tell me why you're always so cold to Amy?" Vicky asked.

"I'm not cold to her." Carol said.

"Yes you are. I've noticed how much differently you treat me compared to her. Is it because she's adopted?"

Carol glared at her daughter but didn't say anything for a few moments.

"This is ridiculous, Victoria. This is over and you're grounded for the week for—."

"… She didn't want me…" Amy mumbled, making the two look at her.

"What'd you say, Amy?" Vicky asked gently.

"It's because she didn't want me." Amy said a bit louder.

"How do you know?"

"I've heard her say it before. On the phone with Aunt Sarah once. They were talking about me. Arguing, I think. Carol said something about how she was forced to take in a "villains daughter". She never wanted me in the first place. It's not that she hates me, it's that she doesn't care." Amy explained hollowly. She just wanted to sleep and if this would get her there faster, she'd deal with the consequences in the morning. Ironic how Vicky was telling her to sleep earlier and was keeping it from her now.

"Is she… Is that true, mom?"

Carol looked like she swallowed a lemon and refused to say a word. Amy, starting to let her lack of sleep get to her and feeling a bit of anger at being forced to go through this when she didn't want to, started to let her feelings flow.

"It's true. I was scared of you finding out for a long time, too, because I thought you'd see me different. Part of why I push myself so hard is because I found out about that. Like I'm trying to make up for something I didn't even do. But it's not just, Carol, Vicky. It's everything!" Amy's voice grew in emotion and volume as she spoke, going from a soft whisper to normal speaking volume. "I'm tired of all the praise and attention I get. I'm tired of always having to look over my shoulder because I can't heal myself. I'm tired of healing in general! I hate that I feel like everyone is expecting so much from me and I can't live up to it! I hate feeling like a failure every minute I'm not out helping people! I hate that I feel like I'm always trying to prove myself to Carol! That I'm nothing like whoever my dad was! I hate the way she treats me! I hate that I don't have anything for myself! I don't have anything but healing and I hate feeling like that's all I am and all I'll ever be! I hate I don't have friends to talk to. They're all your friends, Vicky! And I hate that I love you as much as I do! I really, really love you, more than I should as a sister and I hate that! I hate myself for that! And—."

Amy stopped, having finally run out of breath. She had started shouting at some point and her throat hurt. Everyone was staring at her in shock and horror and she realized what she'd said.

"I'm gonna stay with Aunt Sarah." She said quickly, jumping up and running.

"Amy, wait!" Vicky tried to go after her but was stopped by her father.

"Give her some time, alright, Vicky? If she's as stressed as you think, sometime away from home to decompress a bit might help her." Mark said sadly.

Amy was out the door and two blocks over before she finally stopped running, having gotten winded. She took a moment to catch her breath and started walking again. She was a flurry of emotions, but more than anything she felt drained. It was a recurring thought, one she often pushed away, but now more than ever she just felt like dying. The words she said, especially to Vicky, were more than she could handle. She let everything out and now she just wanted to fade away to dust because she wasn't ready to deal with the fallout of it.

She stopped at a bus stop and sank into the bench.

"Why can't things ever be easy." she groaned.

Sitting at the bus stop drowning in her emotions, Amy suddenly felt like her problems were small. Like they were far in the past and didn't mean much. She felt like she could solve them with a small bit of effort. But more than that she felt a compulsion. She tapped the air, watching with intrigue as the air split apart, opening up like a mouth to reveal a dark hole with a dim light somewhere on the other side. She was nervous, but felt, rather knew, that there was nothing that could harm her on the other side.

She walked quickly through the pitch dark hallway to get to the other side. She stepped into a room with black marble floors and no walls that seemed to open up into space with a purple tint. She immediately saw several people standing around a table, the most notable of which was:

"Purity?" She asked hotly.

"Panacea?" The tall girl with black hair said. She turned to the others, "You guys take off, I'll talk to her."

"You sure?" The brunette asked.

"Yeah." She nodded.

The other two opened portals just like the one she had and took off through them while the supposed lead pulled a box of cigarettes from somewhere as the table shifted into thrones with her as the highest one. She snapped her finger and lit her cigarette with blue flames.

"So, you going to explain?" Amy asked.

"We've met before." She said after a moment. "In that alleyway a few weeks back."

Amy was confused for a moment. "You're an Espada?" She asked, before really taking in the girls appearance, specifically the outfit she was wearing. "You're Sacrosanct."

"Yeah." She nodded. "I gotta say, you were an unexpected addition."

"Addition? To the Espada? I'm not joining your team. Especially if you're working with the Empire!"

"We're not working with the Empire." She snapped, making Amy take a step back. She sighed, sitting back and breathing. "I shouldn't have snapped, my bad. We aren't working with those assholes. We're working to get rid of them at the moment. Purity left the Empire a while ago, but since she never changed what she did no one really knows that. Samael knows her outside her cape identity. They had an argument about her not actually changing like she said she was trying to. We're giving her a chance to be better. It's slow going, but she's not calling me and grew slurs anymore, so progress."

"You think just because she's trying to change she deserves a chance?! You know what she's done to people?! She's—."

"Yes, I know. I wasn't any happier about it either. In fact, I very nearly stomped her face in the first time we met. However there are some extenuating circumstances that make kicking her difficult."

"Like what?" Amy crossed her arms indignantly.

"Like the fact that she very nearly went back to the Empire. I'd rather not have back under Kaiser's thumb. At least with us she's actually working to do some good instead of preaching the hate with Kaiser. There's also the fact that if she were jailed that would create significant problems in Samael's home life. I won't go into too much detail, but it's better than the alternative. It's also another powerful piece out of Kaiser's reach." She explained.

"So you think you can turn the vicious Nazi night light into something more human?"

"I sure fucking hope so." She sighed. "So, what brings you here? People usually only show up in Las Noches when they reach a point of… let's call it enlightenment." She paused to take a drag off her cigarette. "Family stuff?"

Amy was silent. She wasn't going to go spilling her heart out to some stranger. Especially not one that let Purity on their team.

"Whatever," She shrugged, "Don't tell me. You're one us now, so I'll give you the rundown on what that means. For one, you've got new powers. The base powers are Blaster, Mover, Brute under PRT ratings. You also have a set of personal powers that relate to a theme. That's usually what you were feeling the strongest when you got your new powers. For example, mine is loneliness. You also have a number tattooed somewhere on your torso. No, it won't go away, it just shows up with the powers." She raised her left hand to show her own. "I won't make you join, you're free to do what you want with your new powers. Just don't tell anyone about us or this place. Finally, you have to imagine where you want to go before you open a portal or it will take you the last place you opened one. If you're not in here than this is where it will drop you by default. Get it? Got it? Good."

"I'm going to need more explanation than that." Amy said.

"There's not much more to explain. That's about everything I learned since getting my powers. I can't really help you figure out what your powers are based on. That's all up to you."

Amy sighed. "Fine. So what about this place? You called it Las Noches?"

"One of the others came up with that name. I had been running with a Spanish theme specifically to stand out against the other Cape groups in the city. Since it's always technically night time here, they decided to go with Las Noches."

"And I'm free to come here whenever?"

"Sure," she shrugged, destroying the butt of her cigarette, "Not like I can stop you from popping in. Same with that little blonde girl."

"Little blonde girl?"

"Yeah. Won't tell you her name cause, well, not my place to name drop people I barely know, but chances are you'll run into her eventually if you come here often enough. I usually end up here to smoke and think most nights so you'll probably see me often if you come after eleven pm. The others don't really spend too much time here. They've got more important things to do than introspection."

"Was that a joke?"

"It was! Glad you caught that." She smiled.

Amy sighed again. "So you don't have anything else to tell me?"

"Nope." She shook her head.

"And you're not with the Empire?"

"We're taking those fuckers out real soon." She smirked viciously, showing her teeth.

"As long you don't make more work for me." Amy sighed. And she was surprised she actually meant it.

"Well, we won't be involving non-gang members, but I can't predict what Kaiser's gonna do."

"Fair enough." She sighed again.

"Well, I'm going to bed for the night." She opened a portal and stepped through. "Catch you later, PanPan." She said as it snapped shut.

"Wait, what'd you— and she's gone." Amy sighed to herself. "I guess I better go too."

Amy tapped the air again, opening a portal and walking through, ending up down the street from her aunts house. She walked up to the door and was surprised when it snapped open before she had a chance to signal she was there.

"Amy!" Crystal pulled her into a tight hug. "Vicky called and said you were on your way. Mom and Dad went out to see if they could find you. I'll text them you're here. I'll go set up the guest room for you. You can stay as long as you need to, kay?" She said as she dragged Amy into the house.

"Thanks." She said lowly.

She might not feel ready to deal with her problems, but she felt less weighed down by them. It was… Nice. To finally feel like there wasn't so much pressure on her. For once she was actually looking forward to tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And Panacea officially has her powers. This chapter ended up causing me some trouble because I wasn't sure how to characterize Amy's aspect of death (Aging) as emotions. I decided to do this by instead giving her traits that come with aging instead: Patience, Wisdom, and Stubbornness. She hasn't picked up much of the third one yet, but as her power settles she'll start picking hills she'll easily die on much like Theo is more comfortable speaking his mind and standing his ground because he knows he has power now.


	35. Grinding 3.6

Bakuda's capture had been a resounding success. I honestly didn't even really care that the PRT was taking full credit for it. I knew they wouldn't give the people who actually captured the mad bomb bitch the credit we'd earned, but I wasn't upset about it in the slightest. We spent most of our time after her capture cleaning up the rest of the ABB, helping people who were conscripted and taking down those who weren't. It took us almost another week to sort everything out, not to mention most of the PRT building was still unusable because of the bombings. The Oil Rig didn't have enough space to hold everyone, so a lot of people were just transfered out of the city.

There wasn't much left to do that day while waiting for the truce to officially end, so I was lounging around Lisa's apartment watching TV. Lisa had come back from wherever she was and made lunch and flipped it over to the news. Most of it was boring or talking about things I had more knowledge than the casters on. Then it came to a report talking about that singer, Canary. I was… appalled to say the least.

"Do you know where she's being held?" I asked.

"… No…" Lisa answered slowly. "Why?" I could tell how cautious she was about that question. Like she didn't really want to know even though her powers had likely supplied the answer.

"Can you figure it out? Or at least when the Birdcage transport is leaving the city?"

"Taylor…"

"You can't seriously be okay with that." I said, looking at her.

"I mean… It's none of our business." She sighed.

"That's super fucked up! She gets the Caged because of an accidental misuse of her power? If every Cape got Caged for one fuck up that ended up seriously hurting someone they'd have to build another one!" I said heatedly. It bothered me to no end that they'd gone so far for something like that. Strapping her down in Brute restraints was way too far.

"It's probably because she's a high level Master. Not to mention she invokes the image of… Her." She pointed up.

"Because she has to sing to use her powers." I said plainly.

"Yeah."

"So a Hydrokinetic should get Caged because people think Leviathan? Or Dynakinetics should get Caged because of Behemoth? No, that's super fucked up and I'm not gonna let her get life in the worst prison in the world for a single accidental fuck up. I couldn't stand for that."

"What are you going to do when you get her out? She'll be wanted. She won't have anywhere to go."

"Madison will be getting two subordinates." I said. "Unless you want her."

"Why don't you take her? You don't have any subordinates. I'd suggest Alec if that wasn't a horrible idea."

"Technically everyone is my subordinate. But, really, I'm just not sure about it. I think it would have to be someone I'm comfortable with relegating work to."

"Which means you'd have to be able to trust them a bit."

"Yeah."

Lisa sighed. "Fine, I'll figure out when the transport is leaving. Try not to make it too flashy when you get her, alright?"

"Sure. By the way, I'm going with Nihilus to kidnap Squealer later. Wanna join?"

"Tempting as that sounds," She rolled her eyes, "I have to go talk with the rest of the Undersiders."

"Speaking of, what's the deal with Bitch? I've only spoken to her once and that wasn't more than a few sentences, but she always seems off when I see her."

"Bitch's powers really fucked her up. She doesn't really think like a human anymore. Her powers made it easier for her to relate to dogs so that's how she behaves. She probably looks at you and sees power and that makes her wary of you, because you're too strong for her to take on so she has no choice but to listen to you."

"God, parahumans have the worst luck. First you have to go through hell to get your powers then they screw up your mind. I'm glad I didn't properly trigger. Who only knows what I'd have turned out like."

"You'd be a warlord who doesn't know how to stop escalating." She joked.

"Honestly, probably. You already know where I was before I got my powers. If I was still like that _with_ powers I can definitely see myself putting myself in corners due to short sightedness and having to escalate to get out of it. I'm not the best at long term planning. If I were a Thinker my specialty would be combat."

"I've seen the way you fight, you don't need a thinker power to make your moves scarier."

"Oh, take me out to dinner first, you sweet talker, you." I smirked.

Lisa punched me in the arm. "Shut up." She was smiling too.

"So, any idea what your team is talking about?" I ask.

"No, just that Coil is offering a job and he's going to explain what it is later."

"Any ideas on what the job might be?"

"Unfortunately, no. Knowing Coil, it's probably something stupid that could get us into a lot of trouble."

"Well, good luck with that. Glad I don't work for that asshole." I say, then pause as I think about the implications.

"The place was wired," She answered before I could ask, "but I got a signal jammer. As far as his spies are concerned I spend all my time here listening to smooth jazz."

"Wait, I didn't know signal jammers could do that."

"Tinkertech ones can. Surprisingly cheap, too. Only dropped fifty bucks on it."

"Fifty bucks for a Tinkertech signal jammer that plays smooth jazz? Well, that's a quality investment."

"Isn't it, just?" She smirks.

—

I met up with Madison a little after one in the Boat Graveyard. We stood on top of a ship looking out over the water, specifically at the Lighthouse a few miles off the coast where the Merchants liked to hang out. They didn't have any real territory in the city but they had vehicle Tinker and an abandoned area no one else could reliable get to. The Ferry was down and the Protectorate didn't use boats. They had a forcefield bridge to get too and from their HQ reliably and quicker than a boat could, which meant the Merchants were pretty safe having their base where it was.

From every one but us, at least.

"So, how do you want to do this?" I ask. "You're the one who wants Squealer, so it can be your operation."

"That's too much pressure and you know it!" She whined at me.

"Come on, Nihilus. I know you're not stupid, much as you play the airhead. You didn't have to steal my work to pass classes."

She physically recoiled at being reminded of that, but didn't say anything.

"I've probably said it a million times by now, but I'm really—."

"Sorry, yes, I get it. I'm sure you know by now I prefer actions to words, so keep up as you have been and I'll see you as a friend eventually. Now, you want decide how we approach this or not?"

"Fine." She nods and I see her visibly relax. What little brightness there was in her eyes fades as she observes the Lighthouse for a moment. When she speaks again her voice is flat with little inflection or emotion. "We'll go in quick. They're druggies so half of them will likely be asleep or in no shape to fight. You disable Trainwreck if he's here, I'll knock hit Skidmark. We drop Squealer in Las Noches before dropping the other two off with the PRT and taking off."

"Efficient. What about the people who will be stuck on the island?"

"You can squeeze space like Vista, right?"

"Yup." I nodded.

"We toss them onto the mainland using that."

"Nice. So, we ready?"

"Yes."

We use Sonido and stop just outside the Lighthouse. The island itself is pretty disgusting. Needles, pipes, bottles, all manners of trash are littered about the grass and stone. Scrap metal covers some of what might have been holes in the Lighthouse as well as the ground, bits and pieces of jagged metal having been discarded haphazardly. The smell isn't much better, reminding me of a portable toilet that's been baking in the heat for too long without being cleaned. I'm not sure why exactly the smell gets to me so much since I wasn't exactly expecting the area to smell nice, but it hit a lot harder than I could have imagined. It even made Nihilus gag.

"Let's get this over quickly before the smell makes me puke in my mask." She said, sounding more like her usual self.

"Yeah, let's make this quick." I nod.

I phase us through the wall and we find a couple dozen people inside, some sprawled out on the floor or slumped in chairs or against the wall, obviously strung out while other seem to be mostly idling. A few I can see getting ready to take hits of whatever drugs they have. Our target is among the sleep, passed out with a needle in her arm on a dirty yellow mattress in the back corner of the room. Trainwreck and Skidmark look like they're handling some Merchant business when Trainwreck spots us and points us out.

"Hey! What the fuck are you ass stains doing here?!" Skidmark yells when he sees us. He's slurring his words and he stumbles to his feet, pointing at us. "You sluts come to join the gang? Well, you're gonna have to suck my—." He stops as I rush past him and slice Trainwreck's mech to pieces. "What the fuck?!" Skidmark yells.

Trainwreck isn't much without his mech suit. He's a Case 53 was basically a thinking blob-person. He could shift his body around to do stuff, but it was slow going. He wouldn't be able to do much by the time we were ready to leave.

Nihilus doesn't waste time and creates a bubble of air around Skidmark's head. The effect is immediate and he starts scratching at the spinning bubble of air around him. I couldn't really tell what it was actually doing, but considering how hard Skidmark struggled and how quickly he went down I assumed she vacuumed the air from his lungs and kept it out until he dropped to the ground.

It was only now that the rest of the gang catches up to what happened and the ones actually awake, aware, and sober enough to fight us start pulling guns. Nihilus pulses her Negative Zone and all the guns fall apart into their base pieces.

"Decomposition?" I ask.

"Picked it up from some Aleph show. Show's okay but the powers gave me ideas."

"More power to you then." I shrug. "Now, let's see if I can do my part." I close my eyes and focus on the area I want to affect and target the people within specifically except Skidmark, cause fuck that guy, and reverse the effect of their drug addiction. Surprisingly, I find it more difficult than I was expecting. I open my eyes the people look mostly okay. They look healthy now instead of like sacs of water and bone held together by skin. Some of them are confused while others actually seem to be happy to be free of their addiction.

I ignore the growing sound of talking and walk to the door, shrinking the space between the shore and the island.

"If you want to get back to the city, you can leave now. The Capes stay." I call. Most of them rush past me while others sit still, forcing us to move them ourselves. With that done, we move to the Capes, grabbing a still struggling Trainwreck and a now passed out Skidmark.

"Hey, wait! Aren't we on the same side?! I work for Coil too!" Trainwreck said.

Nihilus and I look at each other then at him.

"We've never worked for Coil." She said.

"His time will be soon. What made you think we worked for him? We have no deal."

"You work with the Undersiders, right? You helped them and Circus on that robbery a few weeks back? You have to be with Coil!"

We stare at him and he shakes harder the longer we go without speaking.

"How did you know we were helping the Undersiders?" I finally ask.

"Coil found out. Don't know how." He manages to make it through the sentence without stuttering despite how scared he seems.

"Well, that's a problem, but not a major one." I think aloud.

"So you'll let me go?"

"We never said that." Nihilus answered.

"I'll talk!" He shouts. "I'll tell the heroes everything I know about you!" He yelled.

"How pathetic." Nihilus drawled.

"You won't be telling them anything. Besides, after today, chances are high they see us as villains anyway." I said as I reversed the conversation, going back to where I first picked him up. He starts to speak and I knock him out instead.

"Your powers are so fucked up." Nihilus said.

"Coming from the chick who just vacuumed the air from a dudes lungs."

"… Fair…" She said after a few seconds.

"You take care of Squealer, I'll take these two to the Protectorate."

"Got it." She opens a Garganta while I take Skidmark from her and Sonido to the Oil Rig. The guards on duty are startled by my sudden appearance and start to raise their weapons when they see me.

"Hold on!" I shout. "I come bearing gifts!" I hold up Skidmark and Trainwreck.

One of the officers talked into his radio while the other relaxed a bit.

"Miss Militia will be up in a moment."

"Great." I nodded.

Miss Militia ends up coming out more quickly than I expected. She must not have been doing anything important because if there's anything I learned from my father it's that bureaucracy loves making people wait. She had a few Troopers behind her ready to arrest my captures.

"Sacrosanct." She said when she was close enough.

"Miss Militia. Just doing some cleaning. You know the drill." I said as the Troopers took the men away.

"Indeed I do. You only got these two? No Squealer?"

"Unfortunately, no. She wasn't in the Lighthouse when we crashed their party. Must be in a workshop somewhere or something."

"Well, three out of four is still passing. Saves us the trouble of anyone trying to get them out, too."

"One less gang off the streets. Though the Merchants weren't all that influential they still pushed drugs and I won't have that if I can help it."

"I'm glad. Speaking of keeping bad off the streets, I have to ask about the Wards again."

"And I'll have to decline again." I said and her eyes crinkled a bit.

"I figured." She laughed. "The Espada have been rather successful so far. You've helped a lot of people. Especially during the bombings."

"We were just trying to make a difference." I say.

"Well you are. I've got some paper work to fill in now, thanks to you, so I need to go. Care to give a report before you leave?"

"Can I do it here?"

She laughed again. "You're one of the first people I've met who's not excited to get a closer look at the Oil Rig. Yes, I can take a report here."

I gave a quick and to the point explanation of what happened, leaving out the parts I felt might cause trouble, and went on my way, leaving to Las Noches from there instead of bothering with taking off anywhere else first.

"She's still sleep?" I asked when I saw the blonde woman laid on the floor.

"I know, I'm surprised too." Madison said. "It's weird. You'd expect her to wake up after getting wiped of drugs, but she's still out like a light."

"Well, nothing to do but wait, I guess."

—

We were in the middle of a rather intense game of War when we hear Squealer yawn. We put our masks on as she sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"Man, I haven't slept that good in years." She yawned again. She looked confused as she saw where she was, taking in her surroundings the best she could. "Whoa, that heroin must be good, cause this is a new one."

"This is no drug induced fever dream, Squealer." I said as we approached her, acting as if we weren't just playing card games.

"What the— it's you fuckers!" She snaps up. "Where am I? Where's Skids?"

"In order, You're in our base, Las Noches, and Skidmark and Trainwreck are with the PRT."

"You turned Skids in?! What am I gonna do now? How am I gonna get my next fix? I'll kill you fuckers when I figure out how to get out of here!" She shouted erratically.

"There's no need for a next fix. I've gotten rid of your drug addiction."

"W-What?" She stopped, staring at us.

"You're no longer addicted to drugs. Neither are any of the Merchants who were in the Lighthouse with you. I used my power to get you clean."

"You… I don't…"

"We're offering you a deal, Squealer: Work for us, or go back to where you were. We wont' force you to join us, and if you do we won't force you to do anything you might not want to do. We will soon have access to better equipment for you to tinker with and you'll have our protection from Coil and the Empire. If you want to sit in your shop all day and tinker after joining us, you can do that. Nihilus was able to see how lost you looked while you were drugged up and when we heard your story she wanted to bring you in. It's your choice, in the end, but I hope you choose to stay with us." I explain.

Her eyes are wide as she absorbs all the information I've given her. Then her face scrunches up as she starts thinking about what to do.

"When you say better equipment soon, how long with it be until I get it? When and where can I have my workshop?"

"Nihilus will be controlling the Trainyard, so that is where your workshop will be as well. As for equipment, our worst case scenario is six weeks."

Her eyes go blank and she starts drooling after a moment at the thought of unrestricted access to the scrap in the Trainyard.

"This is a chance to turn your life around, Squealer. It's a tragedy what happened to you, and you'd be highly sought after. I hope you choose to have your second chance with us."

"So that chick is gonna be my boss?" She pointed to Nihilus.

"Your direct boss, yes. I'm the leader of our little group, though." I said.

"And what's your goal? What are you gonna be doing that would make me want to join you?"

"We simply wish to get rid of the rest of the gangs so make the city safer."

"Simply." Squealer scoffs. "You're talking about going to war. We just got outta one with those Asian fucks!"

"And yet we took out your group in less than five minutes. If there's going to be a war, why not pick the winning side?"

"And what makes you so sure you'll win? The Empire is the strongest gang in this city. There's only three of you, yeah? The Empire outnumbers you four to one."

"It's actually three to one, and they only have two or three members that can actually hurt us. Trust me when I say there is not a cape in this city who can actually rival us if we decide to fight seriously. What I did to Lung wasn't a fluke, it was the least violent option I had."

She considered the words for a moment and I see her understand them.

"Okay, I'll join up. If only for all the shit you two are offering. Now, you got any food, I'm starving."

Nihilus hands her a bag of Fugly Bob's and she starts in on it.

"Well, I'm heading home. Have fun getting to know your new subordinate, Nihilus." I wave as I take off.

—

Lisa was late enough that I thought she wasn't coming back that night, which wouldn't have been that bad. I learned that sleeping with Lisa was not fun. She moved so much that she sometimes woke me up. And then there was the fact I'd wake up with her in weird positions like curled around my head or with both her feet on the floor.

"God, I fucking hate that asshole." Lisa steamed, slamming the door as she came in.

"Hi, babe, how was work?" I ask flatly while I watch TV.

"It sucked!" She threw her hands in the air. "Coil is such a— Did you just greet me like a housewife?" She asked, pausing her angry ranting.

"You calm now?" I ask, offering her a flat look.

"No, but I'm less mad." She flops on the couch next to me. "Coil's such a stupid asshole."

"Yes he is." I agreed.

"You know what he wants us to do this time? Crash the PRT banquet tomorrow night! Like, what the fuck?! Why would we do that? It's basically a suicide mission."

"You didn't agree to that dumb shit, did you?" I asked incredulously.

"Fortunately I managed to talk the others out of it despite the decent pay out we'd be getting. Brian and I just didn't want to risk it."

"Good." I nodded. "Seems like he sees you guys as expendable. Lung would've killed a few of you if we weren't around, you probably would've gotten caught at the Bank, and now he's having you attack a PRT banquet? That's the kind of work you hand to people you don't need to survive. They're loss is inconvenient, but not so much so it would hinder your plans. I hate to say it, but you guys are just bait."

Lisa was hunched over, rubbing her temples.

"God dammit, you're right. Fuck, this is the worst." She sighed.

"Well, now you know you can handle it better. It must suck realizing your boss sees you as expendable though. I'm sure it must hurt."

"I hate you." Lisa sighed.

"I love me too." I smirked.

"Fuck off." She laughed, punching me in the arm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: This chapter ended up longer than I was expecting it to, not that that's a bad thing. This is also the end of Arc 3: Grinding. Next arc: Family drama and dealing with the Empire without setting the city on fire... Again.


	36. Sharpening 4.1

School had opened back up the day before the truce ended, meaning it had been open for three days and I hadn't been back yet. Mostly because I was busy dealing with Espada things. Madison was fine skipping out for our raid on the Merchants the day before and the school hadn't seen fit to call her mom so she was in the clear too. I also hadn't gone because I was waiting for the education department in city hall to open up so I could get the paperwork to drop out. I spent nearly half the morning being given the typical run around and having to get through some red tape due to not being sixteen but after showing them some signed notes from my father and confirming I was taking the Exit Exam as soon as I could after I turned sixteen they gave me the paper work. I was surprised at how far Lisa's forgery got me on that front. They probably dealt with a lot of kids who wanted or needed to drop out a bit earlier than legally allowed whose parents couldn't be there to deal with all the bureaucratic nonsense and lines.

I was lucky to be out of there before lunch at the rate things had been going. When I finally got all the stuff I needed I turned a corner into an alley and opened a Garganta to Lisa's apartment. She was sitting on the couch, having been waiting for me to get back so she could once again forge my dad's signature then drive me to school to turn it in. Alec had also come over for some reason. He was laying across the couch, forcing Lisa to sit in the chair off to the side.

"You were gone a while." Lisa said without looking from the TV.

"You know how it goes. You have to wait in line just to find out you need a form and you end up waiting in line just to wait in line."

"Bureaucracy is evil." Alec nodded.

"A necessary evil." Lisa said, getting up to sign the parts she need to while I worked through the parts I needed to.

"We're getting lunch after we turn her stuff in, right?" Alec asked.

"What are you even doing here, anyway?" I asked.

"I was bored of games and heard there'd be food at some point." He shrugged.

"He made that last part up, I never told him anything about food." Lisa said.

"But you admit there will be food."

"Has anyone ever told you to go fuck yourself?"

"Several times, yes." Alec said casually.

"You should go do that." Lisa responded in the same tone.

"You have anything I can use?"

"I know you're joking, but please don't put that image in my head." Lisa blanched. She signed the papers she need to and sat back on her chair.

"By the way," I start as I flip pages, "I forgot to mention it last night, but Coil knows about our teams working together."

"That's… Not good." Lisa said slowly. "How did he find out?"

"No idea. Trainwreck didn't know."

"Trainwreck was Coil's mole in the Merchants? Damn, talk about a surprise." Alec said.

"Okay, so I should bump up our plans to take him down." Lisa sighed.

"At your earliest convenience." I nodded.

"Speaking of, any luck with Squealer?"

"Yes, actually. She agreed to join and spent a bit of last night getting to know her new boss."

"How is she?"

"Personality wise? She's pretty much the same. Turns out she was trashy before she was forced on drugs."

"Huh. You almost done with those?"

"Yes, mother." I rolled my eyes.

Lisa stared at me for a moment, before smirking.

"You know, you're being a lot more open than before."

I looked at her, puzzled.

"What do you mean?"

"A few weeks ago you would never have made a joke like that. You're obviously starting to really trust me. And that's not a bad thing. It's good you're starting to open up more around us and you're faking it well enough when you need to around other people."

I stared down at the paperwork, brow furrowed. She was right. I was being a lot more open than before by a noticeable margin and I had no idea what had spurred the change. I decided not to dwell on it, introspection was for late night smoking, and finished my paperwork.

"Alright, let me get changed and we can head out."

—

"Whose car is this?" I finally asked. We were riding in a cherry red 60s era Pontiac convertible. Lisa had a key to it so I didn't really think anything of it when we first got in. Then I considered that she didn't have a car.

"My asshole neighbor." She said plainly. "Dickbag works from home and typically sleeps during the day. You know that loud music that comes from a couple doors down?"

"This is _that_ assholes car? Fuck it, I should be mad we stole a car, but fuck that guy." I said.

"That's the spirit, Tay! We should find somewhere to do donuts." Alec said from the back. He was laying down across the seats.

"Much as I'd like to do that, we still have work to get to later." Lisa said.

We pull into the parking lot of Winslow a few minutes later and park.

"Wow, what a shit hole." Alec said as he sat up.

"It's worse on the inside." I said blandly.

"It's worse?!" He laughed, "Oh, I have to see this!" He hopped out the back as I stepped out the car.

"You coming?" I asked Lisa.

"Nah, you go do your thing. I'll watch the car. It feels like someone would try to steal it if I left."

"That's…"

"Yes, I understand the irony, Taylor."

"Will you come on?!" Alec shouted from the door, "I want to see what this dumpster fire looks like on the inside!"

"Relax, Alec, Jesus." I shout back as I catch up.

I get up to the stairs and take a deep breath to steady myself before going in. I may have been slowly freeing myself of the chains this place had put on me, but I wasn't quite free yet. Finally, I pushed the door open and we walked on. It was lunch so the halls were filled with people.

"Woah, this place really is worse on the inside! Its like that sci-fi show except instead of getting bigger it gets shittier!" Alec said in awe.

That got a small chuckle out of me.

"I didn't think you were into sci-fi."

"I'm not. I watched a few episodes when I was bored. If it's on and nothing else is I'll watch it, but I don't go looking for it."

"Fair enough." I shrugged.

As we made our way to the Office I noticed people turning to look at us. I didn't know if it was because of me or Alec, but I was trying very hard to remain calm and keep the anxiety away. The stares just brought back memories of January. At least this time people weren't smirking, just looking surprised. Which, I guess was fair considering what I was wearing. I looked like I had just stepped right out of Woodstock, wearing ice blue paisley pants with a white spaghetti strap crop top and a thin, sleeved floral shawl. Even bought some round yellow sunglasses with zigzags on the frames. The neutral look I was trying to keep on my face probably made it look like I was about to go perform with Janice Joplin.

"I can't believe they let kids tag the walls!" Alec said. "This place is insane. How do they not do anything about this?"

"Most of the faculty doesn't care." I answered. "I've seen kids show off their knives during class and the teachers ignore it."

"Fuck, this seems like the type of place I'd actually enjoy going to school."

"That says a lot of negative things about this school coming from you."

"I know, right." He snorted.

We finally made it to the office after what felt like an eternity with all the other people watching me. The secretary didn't acknowledge us walking in, but that didn't matter since I had to walk to her desk to talk to her anyway.

"Is Principal Blackwell in her office?" I asked.

"She's on lunch." She told me, barely glancing up from her computer.

"That's not what I asked." I said.

"It doesn't matter if she's in her office, she's on lunch. What do you need?" She asked with the hospitality of someone who had given their two weeks and was just doing the bare minimum until they could leave.

"I need her to sign some paperwork. Won't be more than a few minutes." I explained.

"What paperwork?"

"Dropout paperwork."

That made her perk up a bit. Probably glad to be rid of the "problem child". It would suck for her when other students started getting it worse enough to complain, but that wasn't my problem.

"Well, if you'll hand it to me I can print out the survey you need to fill out and—."

"No, just hand me the survey. I can fill it out before she signs the rest of it. Shouldn't take much time, right?"

"I'll make sure she gets the—."

"See, that doesn't work for me. I don't trust you to give it to her nor do I trust her to actually sign it. Last thing I need is to get caught up in a truancy case because of this schools neglectful administration." I said as if it were obvious.

I could tell she took exception to that by the way she twitched, but she didn't address it directly, instead asking again for me to give her the paperwork.

"You have my word that she'll get it before the day is out." She reached for the paperwork, but I pulled it out of her reach.

"Your word means nothing to me because I don't trust you. You can print the survey and I'll fill it out before having her sign it or I can just barge into her office and talk to her myself. Which would you prefer?"

She tries to stare me down and, to her credit, it might have worked on anyone but me. I gave her the same withering look I did the last time I was in the office and she eventually relented, printing out the paperwork and handing it to me.

"Damn, Tay, you sure know how to stare people down." Alec smirked.

"It comes with the apathy." I smirked back while I filled out the survey, marking all the reasons that applied to me not wanting to continue school including unsatisfactory classes and bullying. Oh, I make sure to circle, underline, and check that whole box.

"Alright," I said, standing up, "I'm done with this. She in?"

She rolled her eyes and pressed a button on her desk. "A Ms. Herbert here to see you, principal Blackwell."

My eye twitched when she got my name wrong, but I wasn't going to bother with it for now.

The door to the office opened after a few moments and Blackwell steps through.

"What do you need?" She asked. I couldn't tell how much of the look on her face was annoyance and how much was just her general demeanor.

"Just need you to sign some documents, Ms. Blackwell."

"It's Mrs. Blackwell, actually."

"Really?" Alec asked, genuinely surprised. "Someone actually married you?"

I had to cover my face and turn away to keep from giggling at the harsh glare she shot his way.

"Yes, I'm married." She said harshly. "What paperwork do you need signed and why?" She turned back to me.

"Oh, I've finally decided to leave." I said as casually as I could.

"Leave?" She asked.

"Yup. Finally had enough of this god forsaken school. Got me a job lined up until I can take the Exit Exam and then I'll finally be home free. It feels so nice to be so close to freedom." I smiled. I could tell how much she hated me talking about her school in such a way, but I wasn't going to miss my chance to be at least a little petty.

"And what makes you think you're ready to take the Exit Exam? Your grades are substandard." She said like it was a win.

"Please. The only thing substandard here is your staff and curriculum. I got a ninety-eight on Arcadia's entrance exam. I only came here because a former friend was. Look where that got me. So if you'd kindly sign these papers and make a copy so I can turn them in to the Education Department soon, I'd be more than happy to have us fuck off out of each others hair."

"I should be the one filing these. Why should I make a copy so you can do it yourself?"

"I don't trust you to do it. I'd feel a lot more comfortable not having to put any modicum of trust in you after I leave here today."

She growled lightly, but grabbed a pen from the cup on the secretaries desk and signed all the pages she needed to quickly before making copies. The whole process took maybe two minutes, but if felt longer.

"Here." She nearly snapped, handing the original papers to me.

"Thank you." I couldn't help the predatory smile that stretched across my face at finally being free.

With paperwork in hand I waved Alec to follow me out.

"So, where do you think we should go for lunch?" Alec asked.

"I'm not sure. Pizza?" I asked.

"I'm not sure I want pizza. I doubt Lisa would either. Maybe we could—." Alec was cut off by the familiar voice of Emma behind us. We turned to find her with Sophia and a few of their usual number. I didn't see Madison with them, much to my surprise.

"Well, well. I wasn't sure what to think when I heard you'd finally decided to stink this place up again. And with some new clothes to my surprise. You know paisley hasn't been in style since the seventies, right?"

I blinked, then Alec and I looked at each other.

"So, as I was saying," Alec said as we resumed walking toward the parking lot, "I was thinking we could hit up this—."

"Hey!" Emma yelled.

"— Place near the university. They have some half decent poutine there."

"You know I've never had poutine." I said.

"Hey!" Emma called again, closer this time. I turned and caught her arm before she could grab my shoulder.

"Can I help you?" I asked.

"You can't just ignore me!" She said, yanking her arm back. I let her go, not really wanting to indulge the behavior more than I had to.

"Says who?" I quirked my head to the side.

"Says—." She stopped, trying to think of anything to say.

"Right, well, if you're done I've got things to do today." I said as we started walking again.

"You really need to try poutine, Taylor. It's so good!"

"You Leafs and your gravy." I grinned, shaking my head.

"Don't call me a Leaf you fucking Burger." Alec said. He raised his arm to yawn and I heard Emma stumbled to the ground behind us. I barely spared her a glance as we left. I could tell they were following us, but no one had tried anything, so that was nice. When we got to the door outside I felt Sophia get close. I was ready to dodge the push I felt was coming when Alec twitched his finger and she rolled her ankle and went stumbling down the short flight of stairs.

"You know," I said as we walked past Sophia making sure she didn't get too hurt to run track, "It feels nice to say bye to this place."

"I bet it'd feel nicer if you said it with a flamethrower." Alec suggested.

"I'd prefer not to get jail time for something so petty."

"Took you long enough!" Lisa shouted as we approached the car. "I feel like I'm gonna get sunburn out here!"

"Oh no, your pasty complexion will get some color! Whatever shall you do?!" Alec snarked, diving into the back seat.

"Fuck off." She said as I vaulted the door and landed in my seat.

"That won't fuck up the suspension right?" I asked.

"Probably not. But it's not my car anyway so…" She trailed off and shrugged.

"Point." I concede.

As we pull out of the school parking lot I get one last look at the fuming faces of Emma and Sophia and I can't help but smirk. When we get a few blocks away from the school I finally let all the tension go.

"Fuck, that was exhausting." I said, slumped back in my seat.

"But you got through it." Lisa said.

"I did. And it felt good. So, outside of me asking for a job and us putting up our signs, what else is on the agenda for today?"

"Food." Alec droned.

"Yes, after food too." I rolled my eyes.

"I looked into it and found Canary's being transported with Bakuda and Lung later today. The transport she's in should be coming up from New York around four or five and they should be leaving between five-thirty and six."

"Well, that's a tighter schedule than I was expecting. I should be able to get them while they're in the city though. Shouldn't be too hard. Especially since they have no choice but to pass through my territory with the PRT building out of commission for the time being."

"I wonder how they'll handle all the damage. Those transmutation bomb did a number on things."

"I'm sure someone will figure something out." I shrugged.

—

"Hey Abby." I my voice accompanied by the sound of the bell on the door.

"Taylor. It's unusual to see you on Thursdays. Not that I mind."

"I actually came to ask a favor. And buy donut's, but also the favor." I said, handing her the list of donuts I wanted boxed up.

"What's the favor?" She asked as she looked over the list and started getting things together.

"That job offer still on the table?"

She looked taken aback for a moment before laughing lightly.

"What'd you do?"

"Dropped out. Couldn't deal with it anymore and since I can test out of school next month, it's basically smooth sailing. Now I just need something to do until I can take the test."

"Well, I did say I could offer you a job. And I need an extra set of hands in the mornings a few days a week, so sure, you're hired. You start Saturday. Be here at four am sharp."

"Okay. Thanks for going out of your way like this for me. I really appreciate it."

"Don't worry about it. You're a good kid, Taylor. I'm glad to help." She shook her head.

"Still, it means a lot. Short as they were, our occasional morning talks were the only positive interaction I had with other people for months."

"That's sad, considering I'm not much of a people person."

"Your lack of morning pep is what kept me coming here."

"Glad to know some people like my prickly personality." She rolled her eyes, handing me my order.

I chuckled a bit, shaking my head.

"Again, thanks, Abby. I got a few more things to take care of today, so I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow. And don't be late on Saturday. Four am sharp."

"Four am sharp." I confirm as I leave.

—

Waiting for the others to get off school was annoying since we were a day behind on this particular task in the first place, but there wasn't much I could do about it. We met up on the roof of a building in downtown. It was high enough to see most of the city and far out into the waters of the Bay.

"So, it's finally time, huh?" Samael asked.

"We're pretty much declaring war on the city." Nihilus said.

"Maybe. But it's one we can win with minimal collateral and the city will be better off for it. We've only got two major threats left: Coil and the Empire. The former is slippery as the design on his costume and the latter has power in more than just Capes. We can beat their Capes easily, but money and influence is harder. Which is why Samael is such a huge boon. Knowing what they're going to do before hand will help make things easier on us."

"I haven't gotten anything really useful yet since Kaiser's always busy with something but I'll be seeing him Saturday and that should be a good time to get some info out of him." Samael said.

"Great. Be careful about it, though. Last thing we need is to suspect you of anything. You might be his son, but Kaiser is the type of person I wouldn't put filicide past him if he thought it necessary."

"Filicide?" They asked in unison.

"Yeah. It means to kill your own kid. There's a specific word for each act of killing a family member. Fratricide if you kill your brother, Sororicide if you kill your sister, Matricide for mother, and Patricide for father." I explained.

"Why do you know that off the top of your head?" Nihilus asked.

"There are some things that don't go away once you learn them. Like the word aglet. Once you know it means that bit of plastic on your shoelaces it's kind of just burned into your brain forever. Bet if I ask you a week from now you'll still remember."

"Fuck it, I'll take that bet." Samael said.

"Great, five bucks."

We shook on it and Nihilus cleared her throat.

"We still have work to do, guys."

"Right, I got side tracked." I said. "You know what you have to do. Let's go."

We all shot off towards different parts of the city ready to leave our marks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Alright, so starts Arc 4. The first few chapters are kinda slow, but things ramp up pretty quick.


	37. Sharpening 4.2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not a whole lot to say about this one, just that next chapter is Taylor finally dealing with Danny and the juicy stuff starts after that. Also "Lise" is pronounced like "Lease" in case anyone thinks it's a spelling error.

"Nihilus actually did a very good job on these." I said to myself, looking over the last building I'd tagged.

She'd taken her assignment to make us an emblem seriously and actually made them all personalized. I got a simple Shield with a sword going through the top with a "1" in the middle of the shield and a wolf head on the hilt of the sword. It was streamlined and the opposite of extravagant, just like I wanted it to be. For herself, she'd gone with a snake wrapped around a sword in such a way that it looked like a "3". For Theo she'd gone with a flaming Zweihander sword with a "7" on the blade. Lisa and Alec got matching designs similar to mine. Lisa's was a sword through the Tragedy mask with a "5" on the forehead while Alec got the Comedy mask with a "4" on the forehead. I was actually kind of looking forward to what she'd design for Missy and Panacea if they decided to join up.

I pulled out my burner to check the time. It was almost half past four, which meant the transport van would be showing up soon if it hadn't already. I decide to text the others and tell them to meet me at the Boat Graveyard when they're done. Madison showed up first and Theo a few minutes after that.

"So, what's up?" Nihilus asked.

"You guys know about that singer, Canary?" I asked.

"Kinda. Not super into pop." Samael shrugged.

"I love her music!" Nihilus said.

"She's going to the Birdcage. I decided to break her out." I explain.

"You're going to break out of the Birdcage?"

"No, I'm going to get her before then. Her transport is coming here to pick up Bakuda and Lung in the next hour or so. I plan to grab her before they get too far out of the city."

"Why's she getting caged in the first place? I don't want to break out some deranged killer." Samael said.

We stare at him for a moment and he sighs.

"Yes, I understand the irony considering my step mom."

"Just making sure." I said. "Anyway, she's getting sent to the Birdcage mostly because she's a high power Master and she reminds people of Bird Girl."

"Bird Girl?" He asked.

"Ziz."

"Ah." He nodded.

"She can control people through song and by giving them orders. She got into an argument with her ex-boyfriend after a show and told him to go fuck himself, not realizing he'd heard her sing."

"So he…"

"Took the order literally. There was a lot of blood."

He cringed at the mental image.

"So they're sending her to Super Jail for an accident. That's pretty fucked up."

"Even worse, during the trial she wasn't allowed to speak and they had her in restraints meant for low power brutes."

"That's super fucked up." Nihilus said.

"Yup. Which is why I want to break her out. You think Squealer can get along with her?"

"Maybe. They'd have to meet. She's nice if not extremely trashy."

"Figures. Anyway, my plan was to scout out the Oil Rig to see if I can scout out the transport truck. See what I'm dealing with."

"You need any help?" Samael asked.

"Not really. Wraith and Rhapsody know about this. I just didn't want you two in the dark for it."

"I can be look out. Let you know when they leave and everything." Nihilus offered.

"That should help." I nodded.

"Kaiser's mentioned that they tend to send out at least two identical looking vans to try to throw off people who might be looking to do what you are. I'll be on look out too. It should save time searching for her if you hit the wrong one."

"I appreciate this, you guys. I'm glad you're willing to help despite this being kind of selfish."

"It's for a good cause." Samael shrugged.

"I'll do anything you need." Nihilus said.

"Anything is a pretty tall order, you know."

"I—."

"Don't tease her like that, Samael. Other ways, sure, just not that way."

"Sure, sure." He said dismissively. "You heading out soon?"

"I'm going now." I said before popping into Vacio Mundo. I go over to the Oil Rig and walk in. The inside is a lot nice than I was expecting from how brutalist it looks on the outside. I make my way over to the parking lot. It was weird that parked cars showed up, but it made sense in that things that moved never showed up there. Which gave me free reign to look over the inside of their vans to see what I could be up against.

Most of the ones I checked were standard police vans and didn't have anything special on the inside. However, I came to a few vans near the back that were all similarly bulky and hit pay dirt. The inside was reinforced to help prevent capes getting out if they managed to get past the motion sensor containment foam sprayers. And those were only if someone managed to get through the high level Brute restraints attached to seats I could only assume were supposed to also be filled with containment foam. So it was counter measure stacked on counter measures. Too bad none of that would stop me from getting my target. The cameras in the corners I could guess were just to keep an eye on anything going on inside since there wasn't a window to see into the drivers seat. Having finished my investigation, I head back to the others.

Samael jumps when I appear next to him.

"Jesus, scared the hell out of me." He said.

"I'd hope there's no hell in you. That'd be weird." I said.

"Ha, ha, very funny. You find the trucks?"

"Yeah. Nothing I can't get past. But they'll know it's me for sure. Four cameras in the back. The foam sprayers and everything else is easy enough though."

"Great, so we're good to go. Now we just have to wait."

—

It was another hour before we see one of the Transport trucks pull out of the Oil Rig and start North. I get up to follow it to the outskirts of town. Once it passes through the Trainyard I jump on it, sliding down through the roof. The transport is empty and I phase out just as the foam sprayers go off.

My phone went off and I got a message from Samael saying another two vans left since I'd left. The first headed south while the second went straight west.

"We really need someone with clones." I sighed as I headed for east. I was able to find the van without much problem, they didn't exactly blend in to normal traffic very well, but that one was a bust too. I caught up with the south bound van just as it left the city and it was another bust. Both Samael and Nihilus had texted me twice each and I left for the most recent departure first. I caught up with it and slipped inside from the roof as it got into an isolated area. I sighed when I once again found it empty. That was long enough to get foamed.

The foam itself was sticky, which was annoying, but it was quick drying for the most part and that left me standing in a rather comfortable cloud of fluff. It was too solid to move, but had enough give that it was soft. I probably could have fallen asleep in the stuff if I wasn't busy. I phased out and headed for the next one, which was headed North again.

"Fourth time's the charm I hope."

And it was, thankfully, and I voiced as much. Canary, Bakuda, and Lung were knocked out in their restraints, their heads sticking form their weird box restraints.

"Oh thank fuck." I sighed as I reached my hand through Canaries restraints and grabbed her arm as the foam sprayers went off, leaving Bakuda and Lung completely covered in the stuff while Canary and I slipped freely from the back of the still moving van.

I had never really been a fan of her songs, so I had no idea that she had feathers growing from her hair. There were probably a lot of people who thought they were fake, but they felt like real feathers and they sure weren't budging from her head easily.

I shot a quick text to the others to meet in Las Noches and opened a portal.

"Well, that went about as smoothly as I could expect." I said as I placed the unconscious Canary gently on the floor.

"I mean, we didn't get into a fight, so I agree." Theo said, swiping his mask away and dropping into his seat.

"Table." Madison called as she did the same. "I'm surprised the heroes didn't show up considering there were cameras."

"They probably just could get to me fast enough. I'll ask Lisa later about it, but I feel like they know for sure by now it was me. Especially with how clean it all was." I said.

"We can deal with the heroes later, though. They'll be upset but there's nothing they can do about it." Theo said.

"True enough. You guys have anything to do for the rest of the day?"

"I have to be home for dinner soon, but outside of that, no." Madison said.

"I'll ask Kayden to cook for us. Tell your mom you're eating with Taylor." Theo told her.

"That could work. I'll go call her." She stood up.

"I'll call Kayden too, see what she says." Theo followed her out.

"Text Lisa too." I called after them.

—

It was an hour later when Kayden showed up with food. She'd made a casserole and even brought plates and plastic forks for us to use.

"I get the feeling I'm going to be playing team mom a lot." She sighed as she sat down in one of the spare hairs we'd finally gotten around to adding to Las Noches. She had her daughter with her, held to her hip with one arm.

"I mean, you are a mom, so it makes sense." Lisa said.

"If I'm going to be cooking often my pay should get bumped."

"No one's getting paid yet." I pointed out.

"Exactly." She said, tending to Aster.

"You know, I've been thinking about this for a while, what are you guys going to do with your territory?" Madison asked.

"We get territory?!" Alec looked up from his food with wide eyes.

"Yes?" I said said slowly. "I thought you knew that."

"No one explained that to me! Who has what?"

"I have the Docks, Theo is taking over Downtown when we get the Empire out and Madison has the Trainyard. No one else has picked anything else yet."

"Well we still have a free seat right?" Lisa asked.

"No. All seven of us have our powers now." I said.

"What? When?" Theo asked.

"I thought I explained this already." I said to myself, looking down at my food. "Some little blonde girl showed up a few weeks ago. She'll show up sometimes while I'm smoking and we'll talk."

"You really should have told us that sooner."

"I thought I did. Anyway, with Panacea joining in terms of getting her powers that means all seven of us are effectively in play. Missy and Panacea aren't official members, but that's fine as long as they aren't actively getting in our way."

"I guess." Lisa sighed.

"Back to the territory thing, I want the beaches." Alec said.

"Sure." I shrugged. "That means the South Docks and the Commerce District are still open."

"From what I know, the latter of those is where Coil usually operates, since he's been pushing the Empire out for a while. I want that area. Just as a fuck you to his ghost once I take over his operation." Lisa said.

"Which means only the South Docks are unclaimed. I doubt Panacea will want to keep watch over an area, so it can go to Missy. Or they can watch it together."

"Panacea's not the fighting type. She probably won't even join properly." Lisa said.

"Actually, if her family situation is as bad as I think, she could end up joining full time eventually."

"Speaking of bad family situations…" She trailed off.

"No."

"You know you need to. It's been what, two weeks? You should at least check on him. I know you're worried."

I glared down at my plate.

"I really hate you can tell that. Fine, I'll go talk to him tomorrow."

"There you go! Progress!" Lisa smiled smugly at me.

"Don't make me suplex that smug off your face."

She responded by sticking her tongue out at me and I rolled my eyes.

"No one's answered my question." Madison chimed in.

"Oh, right. Uh…" Theo trailed off. "I'm not really sure. I guess I'm going to spend most of my time trying to get rid of all the Empire stuff in the area."

"I'm gonna have businesses to run, so mostly that." Lisa shrugged.

"I'm probably gonna spend most of my time on my ass or hitting on college chicks when I can actually drag myself off my ass." Alec said.

"The first step is admitting you have a problem, so good progress, lazy ass."

"Fuck you too, Lise." Alec flipped her off.

"Uh…" I trailed off as I thought about what to do. There was a lot I could do because the Docks were such a high traffic area. "I don't know." I finally said. "There's a pretty high homeless population in that part of the city. Maybe I'll start a shelter. Look into legally acquiring abandoned property and all that. Maybe buy out a couple businesses when I have the money."

"Homeless shelter sounds like a good plan. There's not really much for me to do in the Trainyard, so I'm mostly gonna be spending time going through scrap to either sell or give to Squealer for her tinkering." Madison said.

"You could also set up a place for Canary to sing without accidentally using her power on anyone." Lisa said.

"That would be nice too. Maybe Squealer could help with that."

"Hey, so how did you guys mark your territory or whatever? I want to do that ASAP." Alec said.

Madison rolled her eyes and pulled a cardboard stencil and some spray paint from her bag. She handed me the stencil and I made it bigger by stretching it with space powers and handing it to him.

"Since you have a coastal part of the city you only need to mark the parts that touch the other territories." I explained. "Hell, Lisa, you could probably go do yours now too, partly just to freak out Coil."

"Heh, that sounds like a plan. It won't make him flounder, but it should freak him out a bit." She laughed.


	38. Interlude 4.a Canary

Paige felt herself come back to wakefulness in slow waves. Whatever she'd been dosed with was extremely strong and kept her from just popping back up. It started with her sense of touch. The smooth, cold floor beneath her that felt like glossy stone. Then she heard people talking. She couldn't quite catch what they were saying, but she knew there were other people talking. Than she became more aware of what was around her, actually able to tell her surroundings to some extent without her eyes open. She knew she wasn't in the truck anymore and feared she'd been tossed into the Birdcage while she was still knocked out. Finally she managed to pull her eyes open and found herself in the stars. She wasn't quite feeling up to moving much, but looking up at the endless expanse of stars made her suspect she'd died.

"She's awake." She heard from somewhere off to her left. She glanced over to see four people dressed in black and white with bone white masks on their faces in the shape of different… She wanted to say animals, but one of their masks was blanks white with only eye holes in it. And they all had the same creepy golden eyes with black sclera.

"Can you move, Paige Mcabee?" One of them asked in a weird hissing warble.

"Just…" Her voice was hoarse since she hadn't been able to use it in so long. "Just get it over with." She rasped, looking back up to the stars.

"Quite the pessimistic attitude." One of them said.

"We're not going to hurt you. That would make all the effort I put into getting you out for naught."

"Out?" Paige rasped.

"If you can move, we've got some water if you like. We can continue speaking when you're not so dehydrated."

"Please." She said as she forced her body to sit upright. She took the offered glass and downed it in a few gulps. Her throat felt better immediately.

"Now, I rescued you from being sent to the Birdcage because I felt you didn't belong there. Your crimes should net you no more than a few years in prison, possibly less with with good behavior, and I doubt you're the type to behave violently in a normal situation. You simply don't belong in the Birdcage. So, that leaves you free, but on the run. We want to offer you a place among us, in the Espada."

Paige looked down at the black stone she was sitting on. They'd rescued her but that did leave her in a bad spot as far as being out in the general public. No way she could survive by herself. Not with all her money frozen in her accounts, possibly even seized or stolen by the police or her managers by now.

"What do you do?" She asked them.

"We're largely dedicated to making Brockton Bay a safer place for the average person. Our methods aren't always legal, you being here is a prime example of that, but it's one of the few cases where we agree the ends can justify the means. In this case the means being illegal activity and the ends being a city not overrun with gangs pushing drugs, murder, kidnapping, or sex slavery." She was starting to discern the differences in voices and knew that wasn't the one who said she'd rescued her.

"If you accept, we'd do everything we could to keep you from being captured again. Our organization is still young, but once we have business up and running we'd set you up with a place to simply live is that's what you wished. We may call on you to help with your powers every so often, but it's unlikely. If you choose not to stay with us, we will attempt to get you into a better position. I don't think the U.S has extradition treaties with the U.K anymore, so that's an option." A different one said.

"The choice is yours, Paige Mcabee." The one who rescued her said.

"That's it?" She asked them, not quite believing what they were telling her. "I either stay with you and live semi-normally, or I refuse and you ship me off to Europe?"

"Yes. What good is trading one cage for another? If you're not the one to make the choice than there was no point in saving you. We can't think for you, Paige. This is your decision."

"Are there any other choices?" She asks.

"Sure." She says. "But those two are the ones most likely to keep you from being recaptured. Would you like more time to think about your decision?"

"No. I'd rather stay. At least repay the kindness you've shown me." Paige said.

"I was simply doing what I felt was right. What happened to you was a mockery of the justice system. So, Welcome aboard. Your leader will be Nihilus, here." The girl in the wolf mask nodded toward the one with the blank mask. She runs the Trainyard so feel free to sing all you want there. Your other teammate under Nihilus is a Tinker, so chances are she has sound proof earplugs anyway."

"But what about her?"

"I'll be fine!" Nihilus said. "In fact, I'm so happy to work with you! I really love your songs."

"O-Oh! Well, thank you. I've only ever wanted to sing, so I'm glad you enjoy it." Paige smiled.

"Alright, I've got some things to take care of tonight, so you two get to know each other, maybe take her to meet Squealer. I'll see you all later." Wolf mask girl left along with the guy with the… Cat? Mask and the girl in the bug mask.

"We're gonna give you a whole makeover later to make it harder for people to notice you, but for now let's go meet Squealer. She should still be up."

She opened a portal in the air and led her through the pitch darkness to another portal that opened in a small rundown building that had been converted to a Tinker workshops.

"Sherrel!" Nihilus called in a sing song voice, "I've brought you a friend!"

"Huh? You got me a boy toy? That's so nice of you, boss!" Sherrel came down the stairs from the small room on the second floor. She was a blonde woman with long blonde hair tied up in a messy pony tail and covered in grease stains and dirt. The too-tight black tank top and short-shorts she wore were probably more indecent than her just being naked, because they did not help leave anything to the imagination.

"Not a boy and not a toy!" Nihilus said. "We've got a new Member and Sacrosanct left her to me, meaning you two will have to get along. Especially since she'll be staying here for a while."

"Well I don't mind sharing a bed with a hottie like her." Sherrel winked.

"I-uh… I'm not into… women." Paige stuttered.

"Relax, I'm just teasin' ya!" Sherrel laughed. "So where'd the boss lady pick this one up from?"

"This is Canary. She was supposed to go to the Birdcage, but we broke her out."

Sherrel whistled. "What'd ya do to get sent there?"

"I uh… My powers let me give people orders after they've heard me sing. My ex boyfriend showed up after one of my shows and I didn't know he'd heard me sing. He was yelling at me about how he made me and deserved a cut of my money and eventually I told him to 'go fuck himself' and he did. Literally."

"Ouch." Sherrel laughed. "But congrats standing up to a sack of shit like that dickless asshole! My ex drugged me up for years. Took my new bosses to save me from that hell."

"Jesus." Paige sighed.

"Enough of that depressing shit! Let's drink to getting rid of asshole exes!" she cheered and Paige was worried the blonde's chest would pop from her shirt.

"Don't over do it, Sherrel." Nihilus said.

"Yeah, yeah, I get ya. Moderation is the name of the game. You want some, boss?"

"You know I'm not old enough to drink." Nihilus rolled her eyes.

"But yer old enough to go breaking people out of super jail and stomping on other capes."

Nihilus sighed, the sound coming out as a staccato rhythm from the warble effect of the mask.

"I need to get home before my mom freaks. I'll come see you guys tomorrow, kay?"

"Later boss!" Sherrel cheered as Nihilus left through another portal. "Now it's just you and me little birdy, so pull up a chair, grab a drink, and maybe you'll be into me by the time we finish this bottle."

Paige choked. This woman would be the death of her some how.


	39. Interlude 4.b Danny

Danny had been through a rather… rough few weeks. It all started with his argument with his daughter. That was the worst of it, but not the only hit to him over the weeks. He'd woken up in the middle of the night after she'd left, not really sure if it had really happened. He left for work that morning, with an uneasy feeling but not much more than that. Then he got home and Taylor wasn't there. He figured she was late and he could cook for himself and she'd be back.

It took two days for him to realize that she wasn't coming back. That the fight was real and he'd slapped his daughter. The realization nearly sent him on a binge, but he stopped himself. Drinking was part of the reason his daughter was gone. He felt like he was dying when withdrawal kicked in, but managed to get a drink before it started getting too bad. As he sat in his home trying desperately to not drink his pain away, he drew on his powers, summoning a clone of his wife dressed in long white robes with her hair done up and a leather blond fold fashioned in an X on her eyes.

He spent the rest of that day crying into the projection.

When the DWA got shut down due to Bakuda's increase in bombings, that left him home alone with the projections for far too long. Only the fact that he could make it disappear, and did so for long periods of time, saved what bits of sanity he had left. With Taylor gone, his cutting back on drinking, and having triggered with a projection of his wife of all people, Danny was having a tough time keeping it together.

And that was how Taylor found him when she decided to check on him.

"Jesus, dad." She sighed, helping him off the floor and onto the couch. Only the fact that he had become numb had saved him from feeling shame at Taylor finding him in such a state. Unshaved, unshowered, and wallowing in his misery with alcohol.

"Taylor." He said, sounding more peppy than he had in a while. "You're back."

"I came to check on you and maybe pick up some of my clothes." She said, sitting on the arm of the couch. "You don't look like you're doing too well."

It made him feel better hearing the worry in her voice, despite how little of it their was.

He shrugged. "Things haven't been well."

"You're still drinking." She noted.

"I cut back so I wouldn't go through withdrawal. It's tough but… It's coming along slowly, I guess."

Taylor's face twisted into a light scowl, but he couldn't tell why. She'd been difficult to read lately. Rather, he didn't know how to read her anymore. He couldn't tell if it was because she'd grown up or because he'd stopped paying attention to her.

"You've been by yourself?" She asked.

"Mostly." He answered.

"You spent some time with Kurt and Lacey?" She asked hopefully.

"No. This." He waved his arm and his projection appeared as he took a long swig from his beer.

Taylor moved away from the thing when it first appeared, then stopped when she got a good look at it. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was open like she wanted to speak, but nothing was coming out. She closed her eyes to relax herself and sat back down.

"You triggered." She said.

"Yeah." Danny nodded.

"It… It looks just like mom." She said lowly.

"Yeah."

"Do you know what it does?"

"No."

"So you've just been sitting here drinking and wallowing in your misery with this… this thing?" She asked with some heat in her voice. Looking at her he found her glaring at the projection. He couldn't tell if she was mad at him or it.

"Yeah."

She sighed and looked toward the door.

"Taylor, sweetheart… Little Owl. I'm… I'm so sorry about… About everything. I should have been there for you and instead I just got wrapped up in my own feelings again and ignored you."

"I know." She sighed. "You really hurt me, you know? Not with the slap, but emotionally. That was just the final straw. I'm not sure I can be around you right now, but I'm not gonna just ditch you either. You need to get yourself together before we can really start to fix things."

"Anything. I don't think I could stand losing you again, Taylor."

"You can start by going to stay with Kurt and Lacey. Sitting in the house by yourself clearly hasn't been good for you. I'm sure they'd be more than happy to help if you just talked to them."

"Done." He agreed.

"Good. I'm glad you've started drinking less. I'm sure you'll be ready to quit in a few weeks. I could help you but… This is something you should do the hard way." To her credit she doesn't really sound happy about that.

"Your powers, right? They let you do stuff like that?"

"I can affect causality on a pretty deep level. Brought a few people back from the dead the last few weeks."

"I heard about that… It was on the news for a bit. The… What was the name again? Spedo? Spa-da? Espi… I can't remember." He sighed.

"The Espada."

"Right!" He snapped. "That. You're one of them?"

"The leader, actually."

"Heh." Danny smiled. "You friends with the others?"

"To an extent." She nodded.

"Good. That's good." She looked down at his bottle. "You seem happier."

Her eyes widened a bit as she looked at him, but she quickly looked away again.

"You're the second person to tell me something like that."

"It's true. I'm glad to see you happy." He pauses for a moment. "The news also said you attacked the PRT yesterday."

"They were sending Canary, that pop singer, to the Birdcage. I rescued her because I don't think she deserved to be in there. It was a first offense, an accidental use of her power, and the charges should've added up to no more than maybe five or six years in jail. Instead she gets a life sentence in the worst prison possible because her power freaks people out. I consider it a miscarriage of justice." She scoffed.

Danny smiled and shook his head. "Leave it up to Annette's daughter to do the wrong things for the right reasons. You really are a lot like your mother."

Taylor didn't say anything, but she looked like she was sitting a bit straighter.

"Thanks." She said lowly.

The room was quiet for a moment before Taylor stood up.

"Alright, you go get cleaned up while I clean this place up and call Lacey."

"Yeah, yeah." Danny joked, following his daughters orders.

By the time Danny was finished with everything he could hear Kurt and Lacey in the living room with Taylor.

"You should have told us something was wrong you big idiot!" Lacey rushed over and punched him in the arm when he got down the stairs. "We could've helped sooner." She hugged him before pulling back to get a good look at him. "Look at you! You look like death rolled over! How could you do this to yourself, Danny?"

"He wasn't thinking." Kurt answered. "I knew you were feeling down but I didn't think it'd get this bad."

"If there's anything our family is, it's stubborn." Taylor said.

"That's for sure." Lacey scoffed. "You ready to go?" She asked Danny.

"Yeah. Got enough clothes for a few days and everything." He said.

"Good. We're not gonna let you sit like you have been."

"It's ironic that Taylor asked us to come take care of her father considering it used to be the other way around." Kurt laughed.

"Oh how time flies." Lacey smiled.

"Speaking of, you sure you'll be fine by yourself, Taylor?" Kurt turned to look at her.

"I'm staying with a friend in Downtown." She shook her head. " And I can move her here for a bit if need be."

"Alright. You know you can call us if you need anything."

"Thanks." She smiled as she walked with them to the door. "I'll come visit in a couple days, alright, dad?"

"Yeah. See you then, kiddo." He smiled as he started toward the car. He heard the door shut after a few moments and sighed. Taylor could take care of herself, even if she was in dangerous territory. She'd done a good job so far even though she shouldn't have had to. He was glad she hadn't completely cut him out. He didn't know what he would do if she did.

As Danny got in the truck, he felt at ease for the first time in a long time. He felt like things were finally looking up.


	40. Interlude 4.c

For once, Theo found himself not dreading spending time with his father. He felt nervous, but that was because he was pretty sure things would go bad if he figured out Theo would be giving the info to a rival Cape group. It was actually perfect he'd be visiting today because Kaiser was going to call a meeting with all his Capes. Part of it, he knew, was a memorial for Victor and Othala while the rest was likely a planning session. Leave it to Kaiser to use deaths to preach the hate.

It would be at his house, so he wouldn't have to ask or anything. In fact, Kaiser fully expected him to put on a suit and stand with him while he spoke about how good people and soldiers Victor and Othala were. With Oni Lee dead and Bakuda and Lung in the worst hell hole of human design, there weren't many people he could blame. Word of the destruction of the Merchants had already made the rounds meaning his only scapegoats were the Espada and Coil. With their stunts on Thursday, the former was the most likely option.

With Nessa and Jessica staying over, getting ready was kind of a hassle. Hiding his tattoo was difficult, especially with them just rushing in and out of every room in the house trying to get themselves together. He had to put up with a few jokes from the twins about having his towel up so high and even had to lock his door to make sure they didn't see while he was drying off. He didn't unlock it until he already had his shirt and pants on, at which point Jessica started barging in every few minutes seemingly just to annoy him.

It was a bit before lunch when everyone started showing up, all dressed in black to honor their fallen teammates and friends. Usually something like this wouldn't happen until over a week after someone had died, but being the CEO of Medhall kind of makes getting cremation arrangements easy. And Kaiser _always_ got his Capes cremated after they died to avoid anyone like the Faerie Queen ever getting their hands on their powers. It was a paranoid at best, but it was one of the few things that had been around since Allfather that Kaiser kept, even going as far as to make them specialized urns with his powers.

He watched silently as the Capes filed in and took places in the living room facing the pictures Kaiser had set up. Theo was facing everyone since he was standing slightly behind his father. Once everyone had made it in, Kaiser started speaking.

"Friends, we gather today to honor the loss of our dear friends Frederick and Adelaide. Taken from us all too soon by Asian swine. But, now is a time for mourning. We will discuss our retribution later. For now, I'd like to hear from our dear Tammi to start."

Theo tuned them out, nodding along with what the others did and doing his best to look somber. It wasn't that he really hated them, at least, not as much as he hated his father and Hookwolf and the more hardcore members of the Empire, but he wasn't very fond of most of the people he had to associate with. He could pretend to care for long enough to not seem insensitive, but that would be the best they could get out of him.

When the time finally came for food, Theo waited with his father since "Guests are to get theirs first", which was probably the most correct thing to come out of the mans mouth in days. After finally being able to grab his own plate and half participating in the conversations he didn't want to he noticed Tammi sneak off, finally no longer being crowded by people. He ignored it because he didn't really want to talk to her and she didn't seem to want to talk. Unfortunately, Jessica also noticed and elbowed him in the arm.

"If you don't go after her I will make your life hell for the next three weekends you're over here." She threatened.

"She doesn't look like she want's to talk to anyone right now." He argued.

"Which is exactly why you should!" She whisper-yelled. "Go comfort her and maybe she won't be so harsh around you anymore."

"I don't want to be a bother. She left because she wants to be alone."

"You boys are so dense." Jessica groaned. "Go after her, now, or else."

"Or else what?"

"I'll format your laptop."

"Jesus Christ, okay, God damn, relax Satan." Theo said, dropping his plate on the table.

The house wasn't a very large despite Kaiser having the money to live in a much bigger one, but he either preferred the simple-ish two story 4 bedroom or it was a cover. Either way, finding Tammi wasn't a difficult task. She was in the bathroom with the door cracked, wiping her face after apparently letting some tears out.

"How are you holding up?" He asked, back against the wall faced away from the door.

"I don't want to talk, Theo." She said, though it didn't have any of her usual bite.

"I figured, but Jess threatened me to come talk to you."

"Of course you'd have to be threatened to come find me." She scoffed.

"You just said you didn't want to talk."

"You men are hopeless." She sighed.

"I thought you didn't like me."

"I don't."

"Then why do you care if I come after you or not?"

"Because it's the gentleman thing to do, asshole. We're supposed to be getting to know each other and you don't even chase after me when you know I'm in distress."

"To be honest, I'm not interested in dating at the moment. The only reason we even spend any time together is because my father makes us. You obviously don't like me, and I'm only humoring him. This would probably go a lot smoother if we started of trying to be friends, you know."

"What are you gay or something?" She opened the door and gave him an appraising look. "What teenage boy isn't interested in dating? Especially a girl that looks like me?"

"That's quite the big ego you have." He said.

"I know I look good."

It's silent for a moment before Tammi moves to sit across the hall from him.

"You know you never answered my question." He said.

"I'm… Doing the best I can. I haven't been back to the house since… It would be hard knowing they were dead, but seeing it happen like that?" She shook her head. "I get nightmares about it. Seeing Adelaide just drop like a puppet with cut strings after Oni Lee stabbed her. I saw the knife come out the other side of her neck, Theo. It's lucky she didn't live longer than than a moment because it would have been worse having to see her drown in her own blood. And Frederick… It was a blink and you miss it moment. Oni Lee was there, he put something on his chest, the poof," She spread her hands like small explosions, "The top half of his body was just gone. No blood, no screaming, noting. There one moment and gone the next." She said quietly.

"Who are you staying with?"

"Melody. Her apartment is really spartan, but she helps me keep my mind of things by forcing me to go training with her." She was silent for a moment, her eyes glazing over slightly before she shook her head. "I think about it sometimes, at night when I'm trying to sleep. How close I came to dying with them. I freaked out and started spinning all the debris I picked up around me like a tornado. If it wasn't for the other Capes there I would have died just like them. Sometimes I feel like I should have."

"Hey!" Theo barked at her, snapping her eyes up to his. "Don't talk like that. You think they would be happy if your situations switched? You think things would really be better if you were gone too? What about Brad? The man looks at you like his own kid. You think he'd be okay with you dying with them? Instead of them? I really thought you were stronger than this, Tammi. If you can't live for yourself right now, do it for them. Live because they would've wanted you to be happy."

He only really meant about half of what he said. He always found himself in a similar situation as Kayden when it came to these people. He knew them and couldn't stop himself from caring, but they repulsed him on a level that made him sick. He didn't necessarily want them dead, but he didn't want them out and about in the world either. It left him in a tough spot but he knew enough to know he'd be happy to see them hauled off to the Birdcage.

Tammi was wide eyed as she started at him. He could see some of her thoughts play out on her face. Anger, sadness, respect, determination. He'd always been meek, so hearing him speak with such conviction probably triggered a new respect for him in her eyes.

"Yeah… Yeah, alright. You're right, Theo. I'll do it for them until I can keep going on my own." She put out a hand and he helped her to her feet. "You've gotten stronger. Those sessions with Brad and Melody are really showing. Now come on. I don't want to be late for the meeting."

Theo didn't follow her as he would've once, instead walking in front of her. He could tell Kaiser found the new dynamic to be a good one, but it was unlikely to last for long.

—

To his surprise, he was actually forced to sit in on the meeting while they planned their next moves. He was quiet through it all, taking in the information and retaining it the best he could to tell the others. When the meeting was over, he milled around a bit, having casual conversations with the group as they filed out but by bit. When it was only him, Max, Jessica, and Nessa left they started cleaning.

The waiting was the worst part. Lying in bed waiting for any noise or lack thereof from down the hall to signal he was free to leave. It wasn't until nearly eleven-thirty that he felt safe meeting up with the others, shooting them a message that he had urgent info for them. He was the first to Las Noches and waited patiently for everyone to file in over the course of about five minutes.

"So," Taylor yawned, walking in dressed in, he assumed, only a very oversized hoodie, "What have you got for us?"

"This had better be good, cause I just fell asleep." Lisa said, just behind her. She was in an oversized shirt and probably shorts.

"I'd been sleep for over an hour." Madison whined, her sleep mask pulled up to her forehead. She was dressed in frilly pink night clothes, a shirt and pants that looked either satin or silk.

"I was on a losing streak anyway." Alec shrugged, still dressed in the clothes he'd been wearing all day.

"We had a memorial for Victor and Othala today. Kaiser wants to do another but double it as a rally tomorrow. That night he's going to try to draw us out to force a fight. Pretty much every Empire Cape is going to be out in full force doing what they can to draw us out. As soon as the sun sets, we have to be on full alert across the city to stop them."

"Theo." Taylor said, getting everyone's attention. "I really appreciate you giving us the heads up on this. But did you have to call a meeting this late at night?"

"Uh…" He looked down at the table. "I guess I jumped the gun a little." He smiled sheepishly.

"I've got work at four in the morning, so, let's meet up for lunch tomorrow to discuss our plan of action."

"You got a job?" Madison asked.

"Yeah, at a donut shop off the boardwalk."

"Oh my gosh, I'll have to come visit you at work and see you in your apron!"

"You do that. I'm going back to bed."

The group all split off to go home. Despite getting the info to everyone he was still having trouble sleeping. He was anxious about how things would go the next day. He could only hope they could stop things from going too far south.


	41. Sharpening 4.3

When Abby told me "Part Time" she really meant part time. She only scheduled me to work four to seven on Fridays and six to ten on weekends, making me spend the rest of the week studying for the High School Exit Exam, which I was surprised I was able to sign up for without having to take a prep class. Just another couple forged signatures and I was good to go.

But that also meant I was up at "Fuck This O'Clock" every weekend. Free pastries pretty much made up for it though. Every Sunday she said she'd let me take home a box of whatever I wanted depending on how well it was selling. Lisa would probably complain about it making her fat or something, but it wasn't like we could even get fat anymore. She just didn't want to keep running with me because her stamina sucked.

Getting off work for the day, I said bye to Abby and made a quick trip home to change out of my dough covered clothes and put on the first think I pulled from the newish wardrobe I'd gotten so I didn't have to take up Lisa's closet space, which turned out to be an ankle length skirt and the top half of some old school uniform. Half the reason I even spent the money on this particular outfit was the hat it came with.

Once I was dressed I left to meet up with the others at a poutine place Alec kept suggesting we go. I wasn't sure if they specifically sold poutine or it was just something they had on the menu and that was the only thing that caught his eye, but knowing him it was fifty-fifty.

Lisa and Alec were already there by the time I started ordering.

"Did you really have to wear that?" Lisa groaned at my outfit.

"You're the one who told me to wear more eye catching clothes." I retorted.

"This isn't what I meant. I meant like, actual street clothes. You basically just bought a bunch of costumes."

"I bought actual clothes too, you act like I only bought costumes."

"It was half of what you bought."

"I don't see the problem with that." I said dully.

"Taylor, you bought two Renaissance dresses, two pairs of leather pants, three leather jackets, three separate sets of school uniforms including that one, and pastel bear hoodie with matching pants." She listed in frustration.

"Yeah, but I bought a bunch of regular clothes too, so I don't see the problem."

"I-ugh. I'm never going to talk you out of this, am I?"

"Nope. I paid for them, might as well wear them."

"You have to let me see you in the leather outfits." Alec said.

"I feel like I should say no because of the way you phrased that." I said slowly.

"You should." Lisa confirmed.

"Hm…."

Madison and Theo walked in and Theo immediately stopped when he saw me. He looked confused but still went to order. Madison just waved and followed him.

When they finally joined us at the table, Theo was the first to speak.

"Okay, Taylor, why the hell are you wearing a gakuran?"

I raised my eyebrows a bit, as did Lisa.

"Better question, how the hell do you know what that is off the top of your head? I had to look it up online after I bought it." I said.

He sat straight for a moment, then closed his eyes and sighed.

"I was really into Japanese media for a bit in middle school."

"To answer your question, she bought it at a thrift store because I told her that she should wear more eye catching clothes." Lisa sighed.

"It is eye catching." Madison said.

"I meant she should like, show off her legs more or something, not dress in weird random outfits."

"To be fair, you should totally show your legs off more." Alec said.

"I agree with him, but not for his reasoning." Madison said.

"You don't know my reasoning!" He tossed his hands in the ear.

"Yes she does." Lisa says.

"Fuck you guys." He said, going back to his food.

"Anyway, Theo, you had info. Said something about a Rally. You know where it is?" I asked.

"Unfortunately, no. He's really strict about info security. He sends out a mass voice mail an hour before it starts with the location. He has too many applicable locations for me to guess. I could give a list and we might be able to hit them all between us to check."

"Do you know when it's supposed to start?" Lisa said.

"He only said afternoon." He shook his head. "Everyone under him knows how he operates so they didn't need to ask questions and I was only really there for decoration. He wanted me to see how those things are supposed to go."

"Unfortunate." Lisa sighed. "I could've done something if we had at least a little info on a time or general area of the city."

"So we have to wait until they make their move to do anything." Madison sighed.

"Damn them and their competence." Alec shook his fist.

"So for now we eat, then we relax and prepare until they make their move." I said.

It annoyed me we weren't able to nip this situation in the bud, even if it meant we were seen as the aggressors, but letting them start trouble before we could actually do anything about it bothered me. It was part of the reason I didn't want to join the Wards. Being a Hero was too reactionary. Too much down time waiting for things to happen when I could be working to take them out before they could cause trouble. Doing so without killing anyone was the hard part.

Violence was easy. Especially when you had a cause that made it feel justifiable. "They constantly kill people for no reason, so what's wrong with killing them for that?". The problem was it was a slippery slope. The more small justifications I made, the more I moved the post of what was acceptable, even if just by centimeters each time, the harder it would be to actually draw hard lines in the sand on what I would and wouldn't do. I didn't want to look back years down the road and wonder when I'd become the monster.

So sitting back and having to wait was annoying, but it was the better choice.

"Well, with that said, what should we do for the rest of the day?" Madison asked.

"We could hit a movie." Theo suggested.

"Hit the mall." I suggested. "Or any form of window shopping. It leaves us in the best position to easily retaliate if they make a move. We don't have to worry they might jump the gun and we won't know until we get out the movie."

"Yes, let's do that!" Madison smiled.

—

Walking around downtown was supposed to give us a heads up on where and when the Empire was meeting up. We kept to the edges of the residential areas or places with warehouses, just close enough to see if lots of people were trickling into one place. We had been walking around for an hour on eerily empty streets, alert but not noticeably so.

The first indication we got that anything was wrong was screaming two blocks over and a car bouncing down the street in front of us.

"What the hell?" Lisa said.

"We should go do something about that." Theo said.

"We should." I agreed. We took off down and alleyway, changing into our costumes and masks as we ran and getting over to whatever was happening in a flash.

It's pure chaos when we reach whatever the hell is going on.

People are running all over the place, there are cars ripped apart and strewn across the street, and holes torn in buildings. Shattered glass, blood, metal, bodies, it's all chaos.

The Empire is rampaging through the area, Hookwolf running down the street with metal blades swinging in every direction, slicing apart anything they can. Krieg is kicking cars down the street while Rune is picking up debris to throw around and Alabaster is firing off his gun wildly.

We all dash into the fray, stopping the Empire and their rampage. I grab Hookwolf by his chains while Nihilus blows Alabasters gun hand off with a bubble. Samael goes for Krieg, punching him into a building, and Rhapsody and Wraith do something to make Rune lose control and wildly lower herself to the ground before stumbling over.

"I knew you Nazi's were low, but going this far just to draw us out? I was hoping you had _some_ standards."

"Us low?" Hookwolf growled. "We aren't the ones who broke the code! The hell do you think you are, outing us you dirty race traitor!"

"Outing you? What the fuck are you talking about?" I shouted. "We couldn't out you if we wanted to!" Which was a lie, we could do so easily, but I didn't want to get caught up in the backlash of that particular storm in case anyone tried it with us.

"Don't play dumb! You outed us to the fucking news! We'll kill you all for that!" A blade shot forward and through my chest. I felt the pain for all of a moment before I reversed the affect. "What kind of fucked up power is that?"

"Hi, pot, I'm kettle, have we met? Asshole." I slammed my palm into his face and fired off a Cero, blowing a hole through his head. He shouted but metal filled in the hole a second later.

He swung his blades at me and I phased through them, slicing them off. I dash near him and shove my foot into his side, slamming him into the side of a car.

"Wait." Samael asks loudly. "Where are Cricket and Stormtiger? Where's Kaiser and the giant twins?"

Krieg laughs. "Cricket and Stormtiger are off dealing with a filthy race traitor."

"Fuck. I'll be back!" Samael took off, leaving Krieg embedded in the concrete.

How he hadn't been seriously injured in whatever had been done to him was astounding.

A white blur shot past us and I saw Alabaster roll to a stop a few feet away. Hookwolf shot forward, spinning at me like a dog shaped blender. I phased through the attack, grabbed one of the chains and used it to slam him against the ground.

Nihilus' laughing stopped me. It was high and manic sounding. I turned to see her walking up to a dazed Alabaster, spear in hand.

"I'm going to make sweet, sweet love to your chest cavity with the business end of my spear!"

That was enough to get even the Nazi's to stop and look at her.

"Jesus Christ, tone it down a bit, Nihilus." I said.

"Too much?" She asked.

"Even for me that was too much." Rhapsody said.

"Fine, fine." She sighed. "I'll tone it down." She shot forward, impaling Alabaster on her spear and tossing him back down the street towards Krieg. Rune was still struggling to get up and tossing her debris around haphazardly.

I could tell this was going to be a very long day.

* * *

**AN: Feeling very "Eh" about this chapter. It was going to be longer, but I felt this was a good place to cut it and the rest would go in another chapter before it started escalating further.**


	42. Interlude 4.d

Kayden Anders wasn't sure what to make of her life recently. Her lack of progress in dealing with the ABB and Merchants had been a major source of frustration for the past few months and Max holding the threat of taking Aster from her over her head was one of anxiety. She thought Theo was a coward, but she would rather have him be that than like his father, yet he was the same boy who had beat her into the ground a few weeks prior. He was more confident after getting his powers, which was rare for parahumans. The confidence usually came after weeks or months of having their powers and doing something with them. Even Max hadn't been that confident when he got his powers. He was as broken as everyone else was before he built himself back up to become the man he was today, which wasn't necessarily a good thing.

Theo forcing her to reevaluate her life, really think about the choices she was making instead of doing the same thing over and over again had honestly been a blessing in disguise for her. It kept her from going back to the Empire and allowed her to grow closer to her stepson in a way she wouldn't have before. It forced her to actually change.

The change was slow going, she could admit that herself, but getting rid of years of strongly held beliefs was never easy. Half the reason she never slipped up around Taylor was because the girl could be pretty terrifying when she wanted to be. Especially when she was taller than her. That just wasn't fair. Nearly having her face stomped in for calling Taylor a "Jewess" the first time they met had been an eye opening experience. The only reason the Empire was even tolerated was because the ABB couldn't pick them apart and they had too much influence. But the way Taylor had effortlessly knocked her on her back and nearly killed her along with the force of the air on her face after Theo stopped the attack showed they could easily take any Cape in the city if they wanted. That kind of pressure from a haphazard attack wasn't a joke. That was high level Brute territory.

The fact that Taylor wasn't even Jewish made that just as embarrassing as it was terrifying.

So she kept her mouth shut, even when Grue took shots at her for her ideology. She could have called him any number of names in the Big Book of Racism, but held her tongue because she was supposed to be trying to change. She broadened her horizons a bit and started talking more openly with the Black and Asian people at her job. Started watching what she said so she didn't fuck up and accidentally call someone a slur. She was making an active effort to try and unlearn everything she had over the years. Grue still wasn't okay with her, but she knew there was no way she could do anything short of a miracle to get him to let her try with him. He was a cape and was more privy to all the atrocities she'd committed than normal people were.

Sitting down for a relaxing afternoon after putting her daughter down for a nap, Kayden found herself channel surfing, just looking for something to watch while she enjoyed some coffee. She'd almost stopped on one of those Lifetime movies, but it was too far into the plot to bother staying on.

Eventually she clicked over to the news and went to the kitchen to make herself some lunch. She could hear the T.V as she made her food. It was mostly talk about the tagging that had popped up all over town. Most people had no clue what it was about, but after the stunt with breaking Canary out, some people were speculating that it was the Espada taking over.

They were right, but they wouldn't have confirmation on that for at least another few weeks.

" _Breaking news! We've just received word of the identities of the members of the Empire Eighty-Eight._ "

Kayden dropped the knife she was using and rushed around the corner to look at the T.V. Sure enough the names and faces of every member, including herself, Night, and Fog were displayed on the screen.

" _The most shocking news is that Max Anders, CEO of Medhall, is, in fact, Kaiser, the leader of the Empire Eighty-Eight_."

"Oh shit, of fuck, oh fuck." Kayden started to panic, grabbing her head and pacing the room. "Okay," she stopped, "It's okay. You can handle this Kayden. Pack up Aster and her things. Theo and the others can hide us somewhere."

She rushed back into her room and grabbed bags to pack up her daughters things then her own. She managed to finish packing and get Aster before the front door of her apartment was blown in, bouncing down the hallway.

"Knock, knock!" Stormtiger shouted. "Come on out, Kayden, we know you're here!"

"Fuck." Kayden looked around to try to find a way out. She was in Aster's room and the fire escape was in her room. She could hide, but if Cricket was here—.

The door slammed open and Cricket was standing in the doorway with Stormtiger behind her.

"There you are. You know, you really did make a terrible mistake betraying us," Stormtiger said. "Just to go work with those kids? Honestly, Kayden, after everything we did for you."

"You didn't do anything for me!" She snapped.

"We were friends for years and this is really how you replay us?" He sighed. "Oh well, no helping the lost. Just hand over Aster and we can do this the easy way."

"I'd die before I hand over my daughter to you monsters!"

"It's funny you should say that."

Stormtiger raised his hand and she had just enough time to turn away from him before the blade of air sliced into her. She fell to her knees in pain. She was in a bad spot. With her daughter here she couldn't use her powers. I she put Aster down for even a moment one of them would snatch her and take off before she could go after them. For the first time in her life she wished she could use her powers with out having to enter her breaker state. Just blasting Cricket in the chest would make this so much easier. But the risk wasn't worth potentially hurting her daughter. The best she could do was endure it and hope someone came to help.

She tried to stand, to maybe try something. Throw a toy or a towel to blind them long enough to run for it, but she suddenly felt extremely nauseous and her legs gave out. Cricket. Her stupid sound powers were perfect for this kind of thing. Her ears were ringing from the subsonic sounds and it took her a moment to realize her daughter was crying.

"It's okay, sweetie," She said, trying to calm her down, "Mommy's right here."

"How cute," Stormtiger said. "Grab her."

Kayden stifled a scream when Cricket grabbed her by her hair and yanked her onto her back. She held Aster close to her chest as she was dragged into the living room.

"You really were one of the best, Kayden. It's a shame you have to go out like this, but you know what we do to race traitors in the Empire." He walked to the middle of the room and swung a noose over the ceiling fan. "Usually I'd try tot take it easy on you. Not make it so painful for you. But," He shrugged, "This is what you deserve for outing us."

"I didn't out you!" She shouted. "Why would I out myself too after I left, you fucking idiot! Did Max even order this?"

"Whether you did it or not, fact of the matter is you're the prime suspect. Initially we were just supposed to persuade you, but after everything that's happened? Well, much as Kaiser cares about you, if you're just going to bite the hand that fed you, it's better we put you down."

Kayden grunted in pain when Cricket yanked her hair again, dragging her over toward the table.

"You won't get away with this." Kayden glared.

"And who would stop us? Who do you have to avenge you, Kayden? Aster's too young and Kaiser will make sure she sees you as nothing but a traitor if he lets her know about you at all? Theo? He might have gained a small bit of backbone recently, but the boy doesn't have what it takes to try something like that. You have no one, Kayden. You're alone."

Kayden didn't say anything, but her glare became harsher. She grit her teeth, doing everything she could to keep from transforming and blowing a hole through both of them.

"String her up."

Kayden gasped as Cricket pulled her again, standing her up to get her on the table.

"Get away from my mother!" Someone shouted from outside. Their heads snapped to the window just as the glass shattered. There was a blast of wind then Cricket was gone. The only sound in the apartment was Aster's crying and it took a moment for their brains to catch up with what had happened. They turned to the other end of the room to see Theo standing in front of Cricket's body, her chest caved in to the point where it might as well have been a hole.

"T-Theodore?" Stormtiger asked. He suddenly fell to his knees, his arm snapping as he tried to keep himself from falling. Whatever pressure he was under slammed down harder, crushing him.

Theo took a moment to readjust himself. Kayden could see the pain in his eyes. He was worried about her and Aster, but he felt conflicted about killing to protect them.

"Th-Theo, thank you," Kayden stuttered.

"Are you packed?" He asked, ignoring the question.

"I have all the basics."

"Let's go." Theo snapped his fingers and one of their portals opened. Kayden rushed through, leaving Theo to grab her things. Once in the safety of Las Noches, she broke down, holding a finally calming Aster close. She didn't cry, didn't want to let Theo see her like that, but she shook under all the emotion finally coming to her.

"Stay with Aster. We'll handle everything." Theo said.

Kayden nodded as he left. With him finally gone, she started crying. Never since she got her powers had she felt so helpless. It was a learning moment for her. Finally being put in the place of so many people she'd victimized in a similar way. The fear of losing her daughter, of being the one on the noose instead of putting it on, of dying. The fear rushed through her, giving way to shame and understanding. Sitting on the cold stone floor of Las Noches, feeling weak and defeated with her only comfort being her daughter, she decided that even if she'd lost her civilian life she would do better. Be better. She didn't see a way to atone for all of her sins. For all the fear and death she'd spread or the lives she'd taken or ruined. But, if nothing else, she could try.


	43. Sharpening 4.4

Things had gotten extremely out of hand incredibly quickly. What started as just a few Capes raging over leaked identities had turned into the whole of the Empire going wild all over the city. Several fires had been set as well as a few car bombs. Kaiser wasn't participating in the carnage, but Fenja and Menja apparently were being allowed to run wild across the Docks.

And I was still here dealing with Hookwolf.

He was taking hits like it was his job, which I guess it was, and just got back up. Granted, I wasn't actually going very hard on him. I didn't want to get lucky and accidentally kill him despite his deserving it. Krieg and Rune had been locked down somehow thanks to Rhapsody and Wraith, meaning Nihilus and I were the only ones still fighting, and that was partially only because Alabaster just kept getting up.

"Sacrosanct, What do we do with these two?" Rhapsody shouted as I grabbed Hookwolf's face and introduced him to the ground.

"Tie them up with something!" I shouted back, stomping Hookwolf's face down to make sure his new relationship was intimate. "You can drop them off with the PRT then deal with whatever else comes up!"

"Right, later boss!" Wraith said as they took off for the Oil Rig with Rune and Krieg in hand.

"Ow, Fuck!" I shouted, jumping back from Hookwolf when I felt a blade shoot through my foot.

"You're a lot stronger than you look, girl," Hookwolf growled as he stood up. "Maybe you'd actually be a good fit for the Empire if you weren't a race Traitor. Or a dirty Jew."

"Why does everyone think I'm Jewish?" I asked in exasperation. "It's super fucking annoying being mistaken for something I'm not."

"Huh, could've fooled me. I almost thought you were a boy first time I saw you in action. Never would've guessed without that hair."

I was largely over my body issues, having come to accept myself. But that was a low blow. I felt my fists ball in anger at the comment.

"Oh, did that hit a nerve?" He laughed.

I was in front of him before he could even begin to react, leg cocked back to kick him. I let loose with far more power than usual and punted him into the air. A shockwave rocked the nearby cars and sent the debris on the ground flying.

I stopped, staring as the silver wolf flew into the sky for several seconds before sighing.

"Okay, maybe I'm not as over it as I thought I was," I said, running a hand through my hair.

"Wow, that was an amazing kick, Sacrosanct," Nihilus said, ducking under a stab from Alabaster.

"How are you not done with him yet?"

"He just keeps getting up and I don't have anything to tie him up with."

I sighed and scratched my head. No wonder the Empire was so hard to get rid of when they had so many Capes who could just tank hits like nothing.

"Rip the window part off a car and tie him up with it. We need to get after Hookwolf soon."

"Okay!" Nihilus said, ripping the door off a flipped car and slicing the window frame from the rest of the door. She sliced Alabasters legs off and quickly wrapped the metal around his arms as tight as she could.

"Great. Now, let's drop him off at the PRT and get after the rest of the Empire."

We were standing over the deck of the Oil Rig in an instant, Rhapsody and Wraith apparently held up by the Heroes. New Wave specifically.

"— Your group is the cause of all this!" Brandish said heatedly.

"We didn't do anything. Whoever outed them, it wasn't us. We wouldn't know where to start," Wraith said.

"Liar!"

"New Wave," I said as Nihilus dropped Alabaster to the ground below. "Fancy seeing you here. I actually had some legal questions for you, Brandish. You're the one that's a lawyer, right?"

"Why?" Lady Photon asked.

"I don't represent criminals," She spat.

"So hostile. We're not criminals. How much are your consultation fees? Do you work with property or should I go to someone else?"

"I wouldn't take a consultation fee from villains. You think you can erase breaking someone out of PRT custody by fixing your mess?"

"Well, first off all, this isn't our mess. No idea who caused it, but it wasn't us. Second, Canary didn't deserve to go to the Birdcage."

"That's not for you to decide! She was tried and she deserves the punishment she was given."

"So you think all Capes deserve to be sent to the Birdcage for an accidental misuse of their powers? That's quite a bold statement considering what your daughter gets up to."

"Are you accusing one of my team members of committing crimes?" Lady Photon asked.

"What did Amelia do?" Brandish seethed.

"Quite telling you think it's Panacea that did something wrong. No, it's Glory Girl."

"How dare you accuse my daughter of—,"

"Brandish, calm down," Lady Photon held her sister back. "What are you implying?"

"Just that if she thinks Capes should go to the Birdcage for a single accidental misuse of their powers, she shouldn't be the one making that choice when her golden child fucks up regularly. A few weeks ago, just after we took down Lung, Nihilus and I were patrolling the edge of Downtown and we stumbled on an interesting situation. Glory Girl trying desperately to get her sister to heal a skinhead she'd nearly killed. What was it she did?"

"Kicked a dumpster at him," Nihilus said.

"My daughter would never—,"

"That's right! She lost her temper and kicked a dumpster, nearly killing an unpowered member of the Empire. Then she tried to emotionally manipulate Amy into fixing her mistake for the, what was it?"

"Sixth time."

"Sixth time," I repeat. "Not that I particularly care what fate befalls those fuck face Nazi's but I think nearly killing six people because she can't keep control of her powers or temper is quite a problem, don't you? I believe I recall Panacea threatening not to heal him despite the trouble it would cause specifically because Glory Girl needed to learn a lesson in… What is it New Wave is all about?"

"Accountability," Lady Photon ground out, glaring at her sister.

"Accountability!" I parrot. "Indeed." I landed and started walking toward Brandish. "We're working to make this city a safer place for everyone. I don't need some washed up hero who can't even be bothered to teach her daughter proper control telling me how to operate."

"How dare you—."

"We're leaving," I said to the others, turning away from Brandish. We started to take off and I stopped to look back at Brandish. "Maybe get your own shit together before you start casting stones," I said before taking off after the others.

"That was intense," Rhapsody said.

"I almost thought we would have to fight New Wave right there," Wraith said. "Where's Hookwolf by the way?"

"He touched a nerve I thought was scabbed over and I accidentally kicked him into the Stratosphere. We'll have to find him soon. You guys take off to handle anything you can. I'll go deal with the Twins in my area."

"Right."

Everyone splits off and I head for the Twins. Fenja and Menja are stomping across the boardwalk, like Kaiju. I charge up a Cero and blast Fenja in the leg, knocking her down. Menja rushed at me after seeing her sister drop, swinging her sword at me, which I dodged effortlessly by dropping down a few feet. I shot forward, throwing as much force into my blow as I thought would hurt but not kill her. I felt a bone give a bit and she screamed, leaning forward. That was probably a fracture.

I blast her in the knee and she topples over. I hear Fenja try to hit me from behind and start to phase through the blade when I feel someone else appear and stop the blade. I take the moment to kick Menja in the jaw before turning to see who helped me.

I'm surprised to see it's not any of the others, but Missy instead. She looked different, dressed in slightly loose white pants and a long sleeved martial arts shirt with the front and back ends extended down to her knees. She was taller, too, by maybe four or five inches, and she had horns sticking up from either side of her head that jutted outward slightly then came back in and went straight up, Those alone added another eight inches to her height. She also had extra arms, three bone white arms on either side, half of which were being used to hold Fenja's sword.

"I take it you're done with whatever you had to do?"

"Yeah," She nodded.

Fenja took advantage of her distraction and tried to shield bash her, but the attack was stopped cold by her real arm.

"Got a name?"

"Gorgon."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Heyo. So, sorry about missing Monday. School caught up with me and I didn't have time to work on the chapter. More than that, I've got some other stuff going on that's lowered both the amount of time I have to write and my general motivation. So I'm moving chapters to Saturdays since it gives me more time to get things the way I like instead of twice a week. If I have enough time I might end up doing doubles, but for the time being I'm switching over to once a week.
> 
> Also, for those wondering about Missy's outfit, she's dressed like Zommari Rureaux just without a super deep V cut.


	44. Interlude 4.e

Vista was unhappy. It was a recent revelation that she didn't like where her life was, but she wasn't the type of person to sit around and mope about it. She did what she could to improve her quality of life. Which wasn't much at her age, but she was still proactive in trying to make herself happy. Which was why she was so surprised to realize just how unhappy she was. It wasn't even just recently, either. It was something that had been building for a while, even before things in the Bay started getting so crazy. It was just that everything had been magnified with the sudden escalation and with the sudden discovery of an outlet that was a lot less strict, well, it was far easier to see how things had spiraled.

Still, Vista wasn't one to wait for things to get better, so she scheduled a meeting with Director Piggot and Armsmaster to talk through some of the things she wanted. She wasn't really expecting them to budge, but the answer would always be "No" if she didn't ask. By the day of the actual meeting, she was extremely angry and disappointed with her leadership. When she learned the truth about how Bakuda was caught at that fundraiser event, she was mad. Not only that they were passing off Bakuda's capture as their own, but at the fact she'd been given a kill order when they knew she had a dead man switch and apparently enough bombs scattered across the coast to glass the entire eastern seaboard. How the fuck she'd managed that they'd never know, but the fact that didn't take the threat of it seriously made her question the competence of the people she worked for.

When Sacrosanct broke Canary out, she was initially mad at Taylor. Why would she break out a criminal bound for the Birdcage if she wanted the make the city a better place? Then she looked into the case, wanting to know what would have driven Taylor to do such a thing. What she found pissed her off to no end. Paige Mcabee's trial was a Kangaroo Court so blatant she had no idea how it was allowed to progress the way it did. A judge with obvious bias against Masters of any type, Brute restraints, a lawyer that neglected her, and a jury that seemed to be just as biased as the judge created a case that looked like a sham. It looked like people had been paid off to make this happen and the fact that people were acting like it was perfectly okay because of what her powers could do? A power she didn't even know she had until it was too late? That sat wrong with her. It made her realize just how terrible it was to really be a Cape.

She felt like she was at the bottom of the ocean. The idea that you lose some of your basic rights the moment you get powers terrified her. She was listed as a Shaker 9. That was the point where they would seriously consider launching missiles at the city to deal with her specifically. Even the thought that she could end up in that situation because someone thought she stepped too far out of line made her chest tight. That she could end up in Canary's situation under the right circumstances was a source of anxiety for days on end. Even with her new powers she was still terrified of ending up like that.

But, she was tough. She pushed past her fears and decided to have a bit of faith in her leaders, disappointed and upset with them as she was. She didn't plan on doing anything that would put her in that situation, but then who does? No, she'd just go have a civil discussion with her bosses and ask for a few things she wanted and hopefully they could talk it out without a problem. There were things she wanted, and she'd be willing to compromise to an extent, but it's not like she wanted much or that what she wanted was unreasonable. It wasn't like she was asking to triple her pay, she just wanted the ability to defend herself at close range and to be allowed to take part in the leader courses. That shouldn't be a problem.

"Right, now that you're here, let's get this over with so we can return to more important business," Piggot said as Vista entered the room.

She had to restrain the scowl that threatened to cross her face. A "Civil" conversation was already thrown out the window and she'd just gotten into the room. She sat across from her bosses and next to Aegis, who was also technically her boss and who she had no idea would be here, and started speaking.

"I want to discuss having a weapon," both adults were already opening their mouths to deny her, " And participation in leader training," She said.

"No to both of those things," Piggot said.

"We've been over this before, Vista. You aren't allowed to have a weapon because we don't want to encourage you trying to fight when your role is support. As for leader training, you're simply too young."

"If that's all—," Piggot started.

"Hold on. We can't even discuss this?" Vista asked.

"There's nothing to discuss, Vista, the answer is no."

"Having you in close quarters combat would be bad form in the first place," Aegis added.

"And if someone gets close to me? I have no way of fighting if someone gets close enough to grab me," Vista retorted.

"No one should get that close to you in the first place," Armsmaster said, "Your teammates should keep them off of you."

"And if they can't? If we run into someone who can get close to me in an instant like Oni Lee? I'm not asking to be carrying around a gun or baton, just something that will help me keep people off of me if they get close enough. Tasers in my gloves or something like that. I'll take Mace at this point. Literally every one of my teammates has a defense against close quarters opponents except me."

"We simply can't give you a weapon because not only is it bad PR, but you're too young to be handling a weapon of any kind. Just like you're too young to take control," Piggot said.

Vista was really glad she'd worn her visor because talking in circles like this was starting to make her eye twitch.

"And that's another thing. I'm one of the most experienced members of the team. Aegis is leaving in a month and Clockblocker soon after that. Gallant has maybe six months as leader after Clock is gone. Then what? You want to put Stalker in charge?" Both Piggot and Armsmaster blanched at the idea. "And if the leader is taken out of commission having someone who actually knows what they're doing instead of just tossing it to the next oldest would be better for any combat situation we end up in."

"While a good idea," Armsmaster conceded, "You're still to young to assume control in any situation. We can neither give you a weapon nor can we put you in leader training until you're older."

"With that settled," Piggot started, "Go back to your quarters. Do not bother us with this again, Vista. The answer is and will remain "No" until you're old enough to qualify for those things."

Vista took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She stood up as calmly as she could and nodded.

"I'm done." She said.

"Excuse you?" Piggot asked dangerously.

"I'm done. I'm leaving. Don't bother scheduling me anymore." She walked towards the door as the others processed what she said.

"Hold on, Vista!" Aegis said, closing the door right as she opened it.

"You can't quit, Vista. That's not possible," Armsmaster said.

"Fucking watch me," She said, opening the door again only for Aegis to close it back.

"Come on, we can talk this out, right, Vista. There's no reason to take it this far."

"They aren't interested in discussing anything and I'm at the end of my fucking rope with you people." She opened the door only for him to close it again.

"You don't mean that right? You're just upset. That's fine. How about we go talk it out? Take some time to calm down?"

"Eat my asshole, Carlos!" Vista shouted. "Just gargle my fucking colon you dumb asshole! I'm sick of you people! I'm sick of Piggot's casual bigotry! I'm sick of Armsmaster's nonchalant dismissal of us! I'm sick of your goody-two-shoes boyscout bullshit! I'm sick of that walking amalgamation of pure bitchary Shadow Stalker. I'm done. I'm leaving. Good luck and good fucking bye."

She swung the door open as hard as she could, causing it to break in half against Aegis trying to keep it shut and started down the hallway. As she neared the elevator she saw the Espada take off from the front of the building, splitting up after a moment.

She knew what she was going to do after this.

"Code 18, I repeat, Code 18. Do not let Vista leave the building and apprehend her by any means possible." She heard over the building speakers.

"God dammit," She said, turning to see both Armsmaster and Aegis chasing after her. She booked it for the stairs, bursting through the door and jumping down the flight with ease. Armsmaster tried his best to keep up with her as she jumped down the flights of stairs, sometimes kicking off the walls if she over shot her jump. She lost Armsmaster fairly quickly, as he couldn't keep up with how fast she was going down the stairs, but Aegis was keeping up with ease, flying down the stairs after her.

He passed her as she kicked off a wall down the next set of stairs and tried to catch her.

"Fuck off!" She shouted, suddenly growing three extra arms and punching him in the face. The blow knocked him back into the concrete wall, cracking it before he fell to the ground. She heard him groan as she ran past, sighing in relief that she didn't kill him with that hit.

She swing the door open on a random floor and took off down the hall, hoping over the unprepared PRT members or distorting space for the few who were and ran around a corner and into an empty room. She wasted no time opening a portal and running through it, hearing the door burst open and Carlos shout behind her just as it snapped shut.

Vista, no, Missy walked quickly to Las Noches. She stopped as she saw the woman on the floor holding a child.

"Uh… Hello?" She asked.

The woman snapped her head up to look at Missy.

"How did you get here?" She asked warily.

"I just opened a portal."

The woman visibly relaxed.

"You must be a new member then. Don't mind me," She said lowly. "I'm just… I'm just thinking."

"You're bleeding," She said, walking over to the woman.

"It's not as bad as it looks. I'll live until Sacrosanct can heal me."

"What happened?"

"The Empire is on a rampage because their identities are all over the news. They've been rampaging around the city."

"What? How could they be…?" Missy trailed off. It wouldn't make sense for them to be rampaging around the city for longer than five minutes without the PRT being informed. But then again they sometimes had a tendency to be slow about these . Why no one had interrupted her meeting to inform the Director of this was beyond her, but she knew she was going to help. She quickly switched into her new costume and rolled her shoulders as she opened a portal into the Docks.

It was time for Gorgon to make her debut.


	45. Sharpening 4.5

With Gorgon fighting Fenja that left me to focus all of my attention on Menja. Without having to worry about being tossed half way across the city from not paying attention to one of them, I can afford to go a little harder. Her sword slashes are fast for her size, but still significantly faster than they look like they should be. Which would be a problem if I actually had to worry about her surprising speed.

I sped forward and kicked her in the face with enough force that she stumbled back, then hit her again hard enough that she fell over. For good measure I charged a Cero and blasted her in the stomach before she could get back up. I start to charge another for good measure when a shadow covers part of the board walk.

"Watch out!" Gorgon shouted.

I turn to see Fenja in the air, obviously uppercut or kicked in the chin so hard it knocked her up there, and Gorgon holding the back of the giants costume with all of her arms. I dash out of the way as Fenja is flying suplexed right onto her sister, putting both of them out and causing them to shrink.

"Huh. Good shit, Gorgon."

"Yeah, thanks," She says. She's facing me, giving me a good look at her mask, which is very demonic. The horns aren't even part of her mask like I initially thought, they're just sticking from her head.

"You have anything we can use to tie them up?" I ask.

"No. We can use a lamp pole I guess."

"Seems excessive. How about…" I look around before spotting a metal bench. I dash over and tear one of the long metal plates off the back. "This," I say, holding it up.

"Works," She shrugs moving to help me sit them up and tie the thick metal plate around them.

When we're done with that I look around the destruction cause to the Boardwalk. The place is a mess, shattered concrete everywhere and smashed in store fronts.

"I'd make them pay for this if they weren't already tied up," I grumble. It wasn't a hassle to fix, but it still pissed me off to no end they would do this just to get us to attack them or because they thought we were the ones who outed them.

"I'm sure we'll be able to help with the clean up once we finish with the Empire," Gorgon offered.

"No need," I snapped my fingers, fixing the area, "It just pisses me off they'd do this for something so… petty, I guess."

"Do you even need to snap for that to work?" She asked.

"No, but I find tying things like this to an action lets me better control it and doesn't freak people out as much if they know it's a power. Just like how I snap to open a portal even though I don't need to."

"Speaking of, there's an injured woman in there."

"Las Noches?"

"Yeah," She said.

"God dammit." I snapped, opening a portal and stepped through. "Drop these two off with the heroes if you can, then try to find one of the others. They split off to find the rest of the members."

"Got it," She nodded, taking off into the sky.

I step into Las Noches to find Kayden sitting on the floor with Aster in her arms. She was huddled over her protectively and there was blood on her back.

"Kayden, what happened?" I asked, walking up to her.

She jumped at the sound of my voice. It was weird seeing her so jumpy. She was wary of me after the first incident, but she always carried herself with some sense of confidence. This was like… It was almost like looking at myself a few months ago.

"Taylor," She sighs. "I… Cricket and Stormtiger attacked me at home. They tried to take Aster. Tried to kill me." Her voice didn't waver, but it was haunted. Like she was still stuck in the moment. I touch her back, healing her, and the relief is immediately visible. "Thanks," She smiles.

"What happened to Cricket and Stormtiger?" I ask.

"Dead. Theo…"

"He killed them?" I asked flatly.

"Not on purpose," She said quickly. "They… They were about to hang me and he showed up. He was mad. It was more a heat of the moment thing. He felt bad about it… Feels bad about it."

I'd only known Theo for a little over a month and I knew he felt bad about it. I'd have to talk to him when this was over to make sure he came out of it okay. Kayden clearly wasn't in the right space of mind to talk about it with him at the moment.

"Listen, Kayden," I said putting a hand on her shoulder which she flinched away from for a moment, "I'm still iffy about you joining because of your former affiliation. But you're making an effort to change and I can appreciate that. So whatever you need to do to get yourself right, take some time and get right. I'll talk to Theo and we'll move from there. I won't say this is a learning moment, you probably already know that, so just relax for a while. We'll finish with the Empire and things should quiet down for a while."

She nodded and I stood and left. One I was back on the boardwalk I felt the urge to smoke. It was so fucked up that I, of all people, was going to be the one trying to council people in emotional turmoil. A few months ago I could barely take a compliment without assuming it was a dig at me and now I was running a Cape group and trying to help people I had no business trying to help.

"The worlds a fucked up place like that, I guess," I said to myself before taking off to help the others.

—

The normal member of the Empire weren't behaving any better than their Capes. In fact, I think they took it as an invitation to go nuts because they were setting buildings on fire and trying to Lynch people in the streets. I stopped what I could but… The idea that this was happening all over the city and I wouldn't be able to help everyone weighed on me.

The fact we'd catch the ultimate blame for this while that slippery bastard Coil sat safe in his base somewhere lit a rage inside me I hadn't felt so strongly in years. Once the city was recovered I was tightening the deadline on his death.

I paused for a moment. I hadn't actually been considering killing Coil, just putting him away. But now, with all this… He'd be one of the few people I'd be comfortable putting in a grave.

I stopped to smack down another mob of Empire members chasing a black family down the street with rope and made quick work of them. I'd probably gone a little too hard, if the guy coughing up blood was anything to go by, but I wasn't really worried about them. I started to take off again when a chain wrapped around my neck and slammed me to the ground.

"There you are," The gruff voice of Hookwolf sounded behind me. "That was a hell of a kick, girly. I probably would've died, even changed, if I hadn't come so close to a few skyscrapers to latch onto." He starts to pull me towards him and I phase through his chain and stand.

"I wish you'd died," I sneered.

"Don't wish," A new voice said from above. I turned to see Rhapsody land beside me. "Wishing's all well and good, but you have to be the change you want to see in the world, Sacrosanct."

"What are you even doing here? Shouldn't you be cleaning up the coast?" I ask.

"I did. You'd be surprised how easy people go down when you can control all their senses."

"Fair enough. But there's still a lot of people to save."

"And I just happened to be passing by. So, you want some help?"

"Stay out of this, boy," Hookwolf growled.

"Boy? What are we in fuckin' Georgia?" He asked.

"I'll handle him, Rhapsody, you take off," I said.

"That's right, listen to the woman, boy. We've got unfinished business," Hookwolf said.

"Seriously, I'm not even black and this feels racist," Rhapsody said.

"Hookwolf," Gorgon said, stopping between us. "Oh how I've been waiting for a day where I can actually fight you back."

"New member?" Rhapsody asked.

"New Member. Gorgon," I confirm.

"Sick. She looks super metal."

"But she's human."

"Your sense of humor will be the death of me one day," He sighs.

"Sacrosanct, other guy—,"

"It's Rhapsody!"

"Rhapsody then, I want Hookwolf. I owe him for something from a few years back."

"Yeah?" Hookwolf asked. "Ill humor you then. Wolfmother and I can finish once I'm done with you."

"You won't be fighting anyone else today."

"We'll see about—," Hookwolf was cut off as she hit him. Even I barely registered her moving, which was a hell of a feat of speed. There was a blast of wind as Hookwolf was sent tumbling down the street, shooting out hooks to try and catch buildings to slow his speed.

"Rhapsody, go drop any and all Empire goons you find," I order.

"Gotcha boss." He takes off with a wave.

I'm tempted to leave, feeling I've wasted enough time here, but I want to make sure she doesn't do anything too reckless.

Hookwolf slams into a car, making it flip and slam into the side of a building. Gorgon appears over the car, with a Cero charging between all of her hands.

Yup. Reckless.

I appear next to her and spin her around, sending the blast off into the sky.

"What the he—,"

"Never," I interrupt her harshly, "Fire one of those at the ground. You'll blast a hole a mile deep. Unless you're trying to bring Behemoth down on our heads?"

"Sorry," She said, looking down.

"Don't worry about it. You're learning. Just be careful not to aim blasts at the ground like that."

"You'll pay for that you bitch!" Hookwolf screamed as he tore his way out of the car.

"You got him?" I ask.

"Yeah," She nods.

I start to take off and make it maybe a block before a Cero shoots past me, black as night. My eyes widen and I look back to find Gorgon and a mess of metal that probably used to be Hookwolf. Her eyes are wide and she's frozen solid looking at what she's done.

I'm wasn't exactly torn up about Hookwolf dying, in fact I'd say he deserved it, but this still wasn't the best way this could have gone. That gives us a collective kill count of three… Maybe four if one of the others took something a tad too far.

"God fucking dammit, this is not how this day was supposed to go," I groan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Hookwolf's dead now. That total's out to 3 Empire dead that they know of. No big loss but could be bad for reputation.


	46. Sharpening 4.6

I wasn't mad that she killed Hookwolf, he deserved it regardless of my hesitance to kill, but more the way she'd killed him. A Cero was already strong enough to carve a good chunk out of a city block, and the Oscuras was multiple times stronger. The fact I was almost hit by it was annoying even if it wasn't going to actually hurt me. Really it was more luck than anything that she hadn't hit a building because of the angle she fired at.

At least she learned that quickly.

I dashed back down to her, but didn't speak, wondering what she would say.

"I-I'm sorry… I didn't mean to kill him!" She said. "I wanted to hurt him enough to drag him to the PRT and I just—,"

"I'm not mad you killed him," I interrupted.

"What?" She asked, confusion clear in her voice.

"I'm not mad you killed him. I'm annoyed at your recklessness, but it's your first day in an actual fight with new powers. It'd be unreasonable to expect you to get it all right on the spot. But you can't fight by yourself until we get you used to them."

"Uh… Alright," She nodded, apparently unused to not being punished for a fuck up. I could only imagine what her home life was like where saying what amounted to telling her to be more careful instead of punishing her would warrant such a confused but relieved response. "What are we gonna do about Hookwolf's… remains." I could tell she wanted to say body, but considering there wasn't much left of him but some chains and spikes, remains was the more appropriate answer.

"Fuck it," I shrug. "Bastard would be lucky to get an unmarked grave. Far as I'm concerned this is what he deserves. Let's get going. We've still got a lot more Empire to deal with."

"Right," She nodded again and we took off.

We didn't make it far before a tower of metal shot into the sky near the PRT building.

"Looks like Kaiser," Gorgon said gravely.

"We better get over there quick," I sighed.

We reached the tower in moments to find the tower was just the tip of the iceberg. The ground below was covered in jagged metal jutting from the ground like a big metal flower of death blooming from the concrete. There were spikes and flat walls of metal sticking from buildings and the ground, some of which had killed civilians in the process of the fight.

There was a large explosion and we snapped our heads to the source to see Kaiser in the middle of the metal spire, using the excess metal to block the blasts from an incredibly irate Samael.

"Samael!" I shouted as I dashed over to him.

"That bastard!" He shouted, launching another explosion at the tower.

"Hey, calm down," I said, patting his shoulder. "You need a cool head right now."

"He—," He stopped, choking back his anger for a moment, "He's just been burning everything! He causes all this and he thinks he can just run off?! After everything he's done?! He—He killed so many people!" He gestured wildly to the area around us. "Anyone who sees him he just kills!"

I felt my own anger rising, especially as I noticed just how bad this attack was. The metal wasn't just sprouting from the building around us, it had gone through them, likely killing the people inside if they were lucky and weren't bleeding out.

"Bastard," I bit out.

"Spare me the hypocrisy," Kaiser said. "You're the ones who started this war. I'm simply trying to make the best of it. Save what I can of my Empire."

"Fuck you!" Samael shouted. "You won't be leaving this city!"

"And you think you'll be the one to stop me?"

A blade shot forward from the tower of metal, which we both side stepped.

"Gorgon! Check for survivors! We'll handle him!" I call up to her.

"Got it!" She nodded, taking off into one of the buildings while Samael launched and explosion.

Another metal plate shot out, blocking the explosion and I shot forward looking to snatch Kaiser from his safe haven. Blades and spikes shoot out all aiming to rip me to pieces. I phased through them, much to his surprise, and rip him from the center of his tower, tossing him back to Samael. He rolled across the ground for a few feet before using his metal to stand and steady himself. He managed to raise another plate from the street to block Samael's explosion, but I'm behind him in a moment, a palm strike smashed into his lower back that bends the metal of his armor.

He shouted and shot spikes from his back, which I phased through. The metal he used as a shield disintegrated and Samael roared as he landed a very heavy blow into Kaiser's chest, then stomach, then face. The blows some how don't kill him, but the metal is dented painfully against him.

"Enough!" Kaiser shouted, his voice clearly pained as metal spikes shot from his suit and the ground around her.

Samael moved out of the way while I grabbed Kaiser by his suit. I ignored the metal going through my hand and and tossed Kaiser out of his spike field, right into an electron blast from Samael.

That seemed to put him down, or at least hurt him enough he didn't immediately stand up and try to fight back.

"I didn't want to kill you," Samael said lowly, looking down at his father. "I wanted to crush what you've built, what you love so much that you were willing to do anything for it. It hurts that I didn't get to do it on my terms but… Life never turns out the way we want I guess."

"Spare me your bleeding— Ugh!" Kaiser stopped as I stomped on his stomach.

"You listen," I sneered. "He's the one deciding if you die right now or not."

"Now that the Empire is gone…" Samael sighed. "I don't feel as good as I thought I would. But considering everything you've done," Samael grabbed Kaiser and dragged him over to the PRT building, past the caution tape and into the lobby. The building is still a mess and there are two large time bubbles in the lobby and another in the gift shop, the latter of which we head to. "I can at least take pleasure in knowing you'll live a very long time stuck with knowledge that it was your own son who did this to you."

"What?!" Kaiser shouted. "Theodore?! No! You can't do—," He went quiet as Theo tossed him into the middle of the stasis bubble. He barely hit the ground before the field takes effect, freezing him in time, a look of horror probably etched into his face.

We stand silently for a moment while I let Samael come to terms with this.

"Is this really better than killing him?" He asked after a long silence.

"I really wouldn't know," I shrug. "I guess that depends on if you consider this a fate worse than death or not. We don't know what they experience in there so it might be the same or it might not. The question is how you feel about it."

"Empty, mostly," He shrugged.

"Let's talk about it later. For now, we should probably go find survivors."

"Speaking of, we have a new member?"

"Yeah. She just joined today. Fed Hookwolf a Cero Soda on accident but helped me capture Fenja and Menja."

He hummed after a moment. "Let's go."

—

It was only after we'd dealt with saving who we could from the buildings surrounding Kaiser's tower did I realize how bad the damage really was. There was a trail of metal and destruction all the way back to Medhall. It was only a few blocks between the buildings, but it was more destruction than was necessary. I was a little annoyed at Samael not being able to keep the fight contained but I wasn't going to be mad at him for being hesitant to kill his father, however much he might have deserved a stab in the chest.

Between helping clear the metal and rescuing people, I had more than enough to keep me occupied for a few hours at least. I had managed to run into the others while we were working and got status updates from them. Wraith had the easiest time and mostly ran into the foot soldiers, which she took down without much of a fuss. Rhapsody was in a similar boat. Nihilus, though, had managed to kill Crusader in her fight with him. Considering his power and the fact he was using it on civilians at the time, I wasn't mad at her for just popping a bunch of her bubbles and hoping she hit the real one.

Which meant, if we counted Kaiser, we had a kill count of four. Which annoyed me to an extent despite the fact they all deserved it. I didn't want to punish the team, I didn't think they were wrong, but at the same time I wasn't exactly comfortable with it. And I knew is was just my own fears of what I could become getting to me. One of the few emotions that remained prominent in me. The fear I'd end up exactly as monstrous as the people I was hoping to take down.

The argument could be made that I was already, considering I wasn't objectively on the hero side, but I was willing to argue that point. There was a difference in what I was doing compared to what they did. The line was probably very blurry, but there was still a difference.

"Sacrosanct," I heard behind me. I turned to find Armsmaster and Miss Militia turning off their motorcycles and approaching cautiously, each with a hand on their weapons but not expecting a fight.

"Armsmaster. Miss Militia. How can I help you?" I asked, turning from the slip of metal I was separating from the ground. I noticed Samael and Gorgon appear at my sides within a moment.

"For now, we mostly want to talk. I'd prefer you come in for questioning but I doubt we could force you even if we weren't explicitly told to keep it civil with you for the moment," Armsmaster said.

"Talk about what then? Because it sure as hell wasn't us who outed the Empire, much as people seem to think it was for some reason."

"No, we need to talk about you co-opting a Ward," He said gruffly. It almost seemed like anger, but it lacked the heat I'd expect from anger.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. As far as I know I've never spoken to any of your Wards outside that thing at the bank," I shrugged.

"So that's not Vista next to you?" Miss Militia asks skeptically.

"Vista?" I asked, looking over to Gorgon. "Her?"

"Yes. Several hours ago Vista attempted to quit and showed new powers. Then, someone with those same powers shows up on your team minutes later. If not a clone or a Stranger ability, it stands to reason you've done something to her."

"I haven't done a god damned thing," I said more heatedly than I probably should have. "I'm not a Trump or a Master. What you're suggesting is ridiculous."

"And the other members?" Armsmaster asked.

"None of us have master powers," Samael said.

"Why are you assuming this is their fault?" Gorgon asked coolly, snapping attention to her. "It's not. I left for all the reasons I listed earlier. I'm sick of you and your oversight. Three years of active service and you still treat me like I'm a fresh trigger trying to figure out how the system works. I was lucky to discover these new powers. Call it a second trigger or something, but it allowed me to meet people who don't treat me like I'm a toddler. I'm not going back."

"Vista," Miss Militia started.

"Save it," She snapped. "It's Gorgon now. I'm taking a break." She opened a portal, leaving us with the heroes.

"What the fuck is happening?" Samael asked.

"I'm as lost as you are. I never would've guessed," I said.

"Go get her," Armsmaster said. "She's still needed for—,"

"We'll have other opportunities, Armsmaster," Miss Militia cut in. That didn't seem to quell his annoyance, but he did relax a bit.

"I don't understand what's happened, but I've got a feeling it's something to do with you. Once this mess is sorted out, expect us to come knocking." With that, Armsmaster was off to his motorcycle.

"You've helped save a lot of people today, whether it was you that outed the Empire or not. Just don't make this sort of thing a habit," Miss Militia said, following after Armsmaster.

"This has been a very odd day," Samael said.

"Fucking tell me about it," I sigh.

—

It's a little past sunset when we're all finally able to meet up in Las Noches again. I sigh and sink into my chair, lighting a cigarette in the process. Madison does as well and it's largely silent for a few moments.

"Okay," I sigh, blowing a cloud of smoke, "Today did not go as expected."

"No shit," Alec laughed.

"Shut up, Alec," I said, rubbing my temples. "We're pretty firmly on the heroes bad side now, people think we outed the Empire, and a lot of people ended up dead as a result. The Empire is gone, which is amazing and only leaves us with Coil to deal with, but this doesn't feel like all that fulfilling a victory. Lisa, recap?"

"Right, so basically 4 Empire capes are dead and apparently our new member used to be Vista," She started, all eyes turned to Missy, who just shrugged. "Kayden and presumably Missy need a new place to stay since the formers identity was compromised and the latter is well known to the authorities. It also limits our ability to be seen with them in public. On the plus side a lot of people online actually think we did a good job and the idea that we caused this isn't as prominent."

"That's good," I said, sitting back. "Do you think Missy can stay with us for a bit?"

"I don't see why not. I'm still sleeping at the Loft most nights, so it will usually just be you and her. As for Kayden and Aster… We don't have anywhere for them yet."

"The apartment was wrecked, but I doubt they could stay there either way," Theo sighed. "I know of some places we can crash while we get everything sorted out."

"Good. Now, Missy, your thing," I said.

"Not much to explain. I just kind of reached the last straw with the PRT. They pushed the wrong buttons and I figured you'd be a better option," She explained.

"I don't know about better," Madison said. "We're not exactly the most upstanding people."

"But you're not villains," She said.

"Kinda," I shrug. "We're mostly made up of villains who were tired of being villains."

"I…" She trailed off, clearly rethinking her decision. She sighed and sat back in her throne. "I've already burned my bridges with the PRT and don't have any intention of going back anyway. I'll think it over a bit more. After some sleep."

"That actually brings up a point, though. Part of the idea was to have territory to discourage other villains trying to move into the city once all the current gangs are gone. The only area left is the South Docks, so you can patrol that area if you want. Or share it with Number Two if she ever decides to join. I'm planning to run a homeless shelter in the Docks. No idea what the others want to do."

"That's… A surprisingly new idea. Heroes avoid doing such a thing because it invokes villainous imagery, but doing it to help keep things safer isn't something I've heard attempted before."

"Do we have anything else to go over?" Alec asked.

"Not—,"

"Yes, actually," Lisa cut me off. "I got a call from Coil today. He wants us to meet him in person. Four days from now."

"So we have our chance of taking him out," I perked up.

"Exactly," She smiled.

"You're working with Coil?" Missy asked, looking less sure of joining us.

"No. I was forced into working with him. Now is finally my chance to get out from under him. After that, I'm with this team all the way."

She still didn't look confident, but let it go. I got the distinct feeling we'd get into a few arguments about how things were handled, but that wouldn't be until later down the line.

"And that should be everything," I said, stretching. "We'll meet up again tomorrow to hash out the logistics and all that, but for now, Good work today team. Get some rest."

We all split off to where we were going, Missy following after me, and I couldn't help but worry about how things would go from now on. It seemed like things would be smooth sailing once Coil was dealt with, and I could only hope so. Life was getting a bit too stressful recently. Some time to relax and let things wind down would be nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: So, some of you are probably wondering where I've been the last few weeks. A family member died and I just wasn't feeling the mood to write for a while. When I did, I had trouble getting it the way I wanted. This chapter has been kicking my ass for the last week. Even then I'm not all that satisfied with how it turned out, but I hope you enjoy anyway.


	47. Interlude 4.f Lisa

Lisa couldn't remember the last time she'd been so wound up. It wasn't fear, and not necessarily anxiety or excitement either.

Anticipation. Her power supplied. It was fitting that was the feeling she got as she and the Undersiders sat in the black van taking to meet Coil. She still wasn't sure what he wanted, but she was sure they'd be finally meeting him in person. She hoped, fuck she hoped, that he hadn't managed to catch on to what she and the others had been doing. She took caution, never letting anything slip at the Loft, but you could never be sure with Coil. He was the most slippery snake around and there was no way to know for sure what he did and didn't know.

Their communications hadn't slowed, but he seemed more cautious of her as of recently, which probably had something to do with the knots in her stomach. Was it a trap? Could she and Alec properly protect Rachel and Brian? Well, that wasn't necessarily a problem, but she was still worried. She got the feeling if Alec could see her he'd kick her in the shin and tell her to stop worrying and relax. It wasn't like Coil could really hurt them.

Except he could slow them down. Disrupt their movement for long enough that they might not be able to act against him. He still had those EMP weapons he stole from the Empire after all, and she'd seen how they had dropped Taylor of all people even though she let herself get caught by it. Anything that was able to slow Taylor down was scary enough in and of itself because it meant it would actually do something to the rest of them. She'd seen Taylor take damage during training just to prove a point, so if those EMP guns could actually stop her for any significant period of time, they'd slow her and Alec down enough to be a problem.

Her thoughts drifted to Taylor for a moment. Since they'd taken down the Empire a few days ago she'd been a lot more calm. Less on edge. It was hard for most to tell, mostly because she wasn't a typical smoker, but Taylor smoked more when she was worried about something and with the Empire gone she'd dropped from four or five a day to two or three. With Coil being the last major villain in the city, she was content to let Lisa handle it when she would be meeting him. Hopefully in person. Even getting her homeless shelter thing set up hadn't been stressing her out too much between the little bit of studying she did for the Exit Exam. She hadn't started yet, mostly still scouting buildings to use, but it seemed to be going well.

They hadn't really seen or heard from Theo or Kayden during the week, just little bits here and there with how they were doing and how they were navigating the authorities. They'd be bouncing around safe houses for a while until they could figure out something stable since the last thing they wanted was Aster being taken away for Kayden's past crimes.

Vista, or Missy now, was an odd point of contention. She either didn't want to or couldn't go home, so had been staying at Lisa and Taylor's apartment for the week, using Garganta to come and go, and hadn't gone to school as far as anyone knew. Which meant she was spending a lot of time with Taylor talking over her joining the Espada. She wasn't entirely comfortable working with Purity, and that had taken the rest of them a fair bit of time too, but there was also the fact she wasn't keen on committing crime in general. The problem with that, as she, Alec, and Taylor had pointed out, was that she'd already killed Hookwolf. Which none of them blamed her for, the guy definitely deserved what he got, but if she wanted to avoid committing crime, she was several offenses too far with that one thing alone, let alone her current feud with the PRT. It took pointing out that no one expected her to suddenly become a crime lord or even participate in any of the underworld activities at all if she didn't want to, to finally make her completely comfortable with the group.

And the PRT was another thing entirely. If any of them were out in public in costume they had to hope the heroes didn't show up to bother them. Taylor was starting to get tired of the Protectorate and Wards popping up in her territory to talk to her or get Missy to talk to them and Lisa felt like a real confrontation was brewing. Taylor was patient but she wasn't that patient. Eventually, whether it be in a few weeks or months, the PRT would end up pushing her into telling them to fuck off in a possibly violent way.

Lisa's thoughts were interrupted as the SUV came to a stop and the number of people she could sense nearby jumped significantly.

Eighty-four. Her powers told her since she couldn't be bothered to count the number of people she could sense.

A worrying amount of people if they were all equipped with the EMP weapons, but between her and Alec's powers and their range they should be okay. In fact, she new worrying was pointless when she could give people crippling all-over pain faster than they could react, but caution was in her nature. Accounting for every little detail even when she didn't have to was her entire thing.

"Up," A gruff voice, one of the mercenaries ordered. She felt a large hand grab her arm and lead her out of the car. When she was down on the ground the hood blocking her vision was snatched off, revealing a standard underground parking garage. Stone walls, black asphalt, overhead lights, and no way to tell where they were.

"You know, this was pretty kinky for a card ride," Regent said.

"Shut up, Regent," Grue sighed.

Bitch grunted, but Lisa herself was keeping track of her surroundings. She found six camera's in the garage and twelve men were relatively close to them. She wished she knew where the camera room was so she could target them specifically and anyone who got near, but she'd have to blunt force this and hope for the best.

She created an illusion of herself, a perfect copy that, for now, followed her movements while she walked a few feet behind the group. Her powers set off every time she looked at one of the mercenaries, picking up details on how they walked, reasons why, mannerism, desires, hopes. Most of them were in it for the money, some were incredibly loyal to Coil though. They'd have to be dealt with once he was dead.

There wasn't much to take in among the long stone hallways save for the cameras every few feet and the occasional boxes they'd pass by that hadn't been put where they were supposed to go yet. As they got down the last set of stairs to reach Coils office, she felt an intense spike of emotion from somewhere in the tunnels. It shocked her to the point she jumped because rarely could she ever tell what someone wanted without seeing them, even with her new powers. The feeling was a terrible, ravenous hunger undercut with deep desire for death that made her skin crawl. She looked around to make sure there was nothing around that would attack them. It was actually a relief when they finally got down to Coils office and out of the dreary identical looking hallways that Coil seemed to think would protect him.

Lisa felt the feeling of Anticipation spike as they stepped into the office to see Coil standing in front of his desk, his tall and slim form wrapped tightly in his costume. The snake wrapping around his leg and up his body was all anyone would ever need to know about the man and, hopefully, all they'd remember of him after today if they bothered to remember him at all.

"Welcome, Undersiders," Coil said smoothly, taking a step forward and placing his hands behind his back. Lisa could see the greed in his heart in a second. The desire for control and power he had that made it odd he wasn't a Master Trigger. "As most of you don't know, I'm your employer. I invited you all here because you've all more than lived up to my expectations," Coil said jovially. "More than that, with all of the other major gangs gone, that leaves a large gap open, and I want you to take it."

"You want us to take over the city?" Grue asked skeptically. He probably wasn't acting. Lisa had an idea this was where Coil would eventually take things. He certainly was the type of person to want a fiefdom. At least with Taylor it was more about keeping other groups from moving in than having actually control of the city. Not that she cared much either way. She'd be doing pretty much the same things either way.

"Yes," Coil said smoothly. "Of course you'll have my support in all your endeavors. So long as only you are the ones in the know about our relationship."

Lisa was actually a little surprised by how this was going. She was expecting an ambush or something, but Coil, and she could tell it was really him, was far more relaxed than he should be. He'd been the most paranoid man she'd ever come across to the point she was sure those doomsday prep people would call him too paranoid.

"And this isn't something to burn us?" Grue asked.

"Of course not," Coil waved the concern away. "You're all far too valuable to simply toss away for something petty. Especially at this point. But…" He stopped to think, rubbing his hand on his masked chin, "how about I show you I'm serious about this. I'll show you my power. Show you exactly how I'll back you up and have been backing you up on your jobs."

Lisa's eyes widened slightly as he pulled a stack of quarters off his desk. She remembered the first time she'd met a Coil in person. He'd pulled the same trick, every single coin he tossed landed head. If he was doing it again, it must mean this was the real Coil and she'd met him at least once in the past.

"Catch," He said, tossing the coin to Grue.

"Heads," Grue said.

He tossed one to Regent.

"Heads," Regent nodded, flipping the coin himself only for the same result.

Coil seemed ready to toss one to Bitch, but thought better of it. She was already annoyed at having to leave her dogs at home for the duration of this. Lisa stopped her illusion copy from copying her as she noticed a door when Coil tossed the coin to her. It was inconspicuous, but it seemed out of place in the room. Just a regular metal door that apparently led to a separate room.

"So you control probabilities or something?" Regent asked, flipping the coin some more as I walked towards the door.

"Quite the opposite. I control destiny," Coil said. "I can decide the outcome of given actions, no matter the place or person."

"That's broken," Regent said.

"Indeed," Coil said smugly. "Now, let's get to those details, shall we?" Coil asked.

Lisa tuned them out as she stepped through the door to find a medical bed with a small girl hooked up to it.

Her powers went into overdrive as she stared in horror at this little girl strapped to a bed. She was twelve. Kidnapped for her precog ability and drugged to keep her complacent. The girl had been here for about a month, give or take a few days and whatever Coil had her on was extremely addictive.

Lisa felt rage boil up from inside her. Not necessarily for what Coil had done, but because it was like looking in a mirror. If she had triggered a few years earlier, if she'd pissed Coil off enough even now, before she got her new powers, this would, could have been her. He'd have her chained up in some basement using her powers for him until she either burned out or died. And he was doing it to some little girl because her power was useful to him. Because she gave him an edge. She was the reason he seemed so relaxed. However strong her precog abilities were, it gave Coil a peace of mind he never had before.

"He'll pay," She ground out, clenching her fists as she turned back towards the door. She didn't hesitate to snatch Coil by his suit and yank him to his knees, her sudden appearance clearly a shock. The guards in the room turned towards her the second she appeared, but she was quicker. "Rhapsody!" She ordered, before Coil had hit the ground.

The guards dropped, whatever he'd done to them, be it cutting all their senses or just a few, it was effective.

"What are you—,"

"Shut up!" Lisa shouted. "You'll pay you bastard! I've been waiting for this!" She felt a compulsion to see his face, though she didn't know why. Grabbing his mask she yanked it off to look him in his eyes. When their eyes met, she understood. She could see all of his sins. Every horrible thing he'd ever done. And she could use it against him. She could make him burn for it all. This was how she'd make him pay.

It didn't take long for the screaming to start, but it was quickly silenced by Regent cutting his ability to talk. Coil clawed at his face, neck, and chest. Anything to make the deep pain he must have been feeling stop. Or at least to make it burn less. But it was no use. She'd caught him and she would make sure he'd suffer as long as she could make him. Finally he dropped and she stumbled back, catching herself on his desk.

"What the fuck was that?" Grue asked.

"Set his soul on fire with his sins," She answered.

"What the fuck?!"

"What?! I want that power! Trade with me!" Regent said.

"We can't trade powers, Regent."

"Such bullshit," He sighed.

"Since when can you do that?" Bitch asked.

"It's new," Lisa said, straightening up. "Now, I've got some work to take care of. Grue, Bitch, you two should head home. Regent, I'm going to need you to help with these mercs."

"Of course I get more work," Regent threw his hands into the air.

"Stop complaining."

—

Getting all of Coils things together and looking over them took hours. When that was done I had to talk to the mercenaries, which actually went rather well. All of the ones in it for the money didn't really care as long as they were getting paid. The ones actually loyal to Coil took a bit of extra work, but between mine and Alec's powers we were able to either convince them or prepare them for getting shipped off somewhere else.

Not literally shipped, much as she would have liked to do that, but it was more trouble than it was worth. After that was done she was back to analyzing Coils files, which showed his connections to the PRT as well. Consultant Thomas Calvert, huh? Oh, did she now have some juicy information on her hands. The only question was what to do with it. Sending it to the PRT would probably earn the Espada some points with them, but at the same time having info on their movements would be more than helpful.

Lisa stretched after finishing another batch of files, feeling bone tired from her lack of sleep more than anything else. She checked the clock to see it was a little past ten, meaning Taylor would be getting off work soon and she could call her to come help deal with the kid. Nothing was happening until she was clean, which meant she could probably catch an hour of sleep before she needed to do anything else.

As she sat back in the chair to get comfortable a low whine loud enough to be heard even wherever this bunker was snapped her back to full wakefulness. She sat up ramrod straight, looking at the opposite wall for a moment. She knew that sound despite the fact she'd never heard it up close and personal like this before. Everyone did. It was the sound of the Endbringer Siren. Lisa sank back in her chair, her hands over her face in lamentation of what would be her day after everything that had already happened.

"Fuck."


	48. Edge 5.1

It was a rather slow morning at the shop. Then again, I rarely ever saw people when I was just a customer, so I shouldn't have been surprised that didn't change much as an employee. If not for the fact Abby seemed to make a decent amount of money, enough to afford to pay me at least, I'd have thought she'd be close to going out of business. Apparently the rush happened after my shift ended, which was odd since I usually left mid morning on the weekends. Even on my Fridays that seemed a bit of a stretch, but she made money, so I wasn't going to question it.

"You almost done, Taylor?" Abby asked from the front.

"Yeah," I called, finishing cleaning some of the equipment. I didn't have the know how or anything like that to cook the pastries quite yet, Abby had been teaching me between the cleaning she had me doing, so most of my job was just to serve customers and keep things clean. Not that I minded. It was low stress and gave me ample time to think about how I wanted to operate all my Cape stuff.

"Come back up front when you're done. I've got a batch of fritters to finish in a bit."

"Got it," I called.

The week after dealing with the Empire had been more tiring than I wanted. Dealing with the Protectorate coming at me every chance they got to talk about Missy was annoying and they were starting to try my patience. Armsmaster and Battery were the worst offenders, and the funny thing was they didn't even realize they were doing exactly the thing she hated when they talked to me: treating her like she was a fresh trigger. It was always "She doesn't know what she's doing" and "You must have influenced her". It made me understand why she left very quickly if this was how they always treated her. The Wards, luckily enough, were ordered not to bother me if they ever saw me, so I didn't have to worry about them if we spotted each other on the boardwalk or something.

Operating out of the Docks was also a bit more than I was expecting. It was a high traffic area, so of course there'd be more going on than some of the other parts of the city. Alec and Missy were lucky in that regard. Luckily Circus and Uber and Leet hadn't been active in a while, so I was free of them for now, but I still had to deal with non-Cape dealers every once now and then, which I didn't want to do. Especially since I was trying to focus on getting my shelter up and running. Run down buildings were plentiful so all I needed to do was find somewhere I liked and fix it up real quick once it was mine. I'd like to do it the legal way, but the way things were going that wasn't looking entirely possible. Especially not with me still trying to repair a lot of the damage the Empire had done.

And boy had they done a lot. A hurricane might as well have run through with the way some of the areas looked. And the loss of life was ridiculous. It just made me glad those fucks were basically gone for good since all of the civilian generals had either skipped town or gotten grabbed by the cops and all of their Capes were either dead or locked up. Theo and Kayden had been doing as well as could be expected, which was dodging from place to place to avoid the cops until they figured something out. Madison had been offered to let them stay with Paige and Sherrel, but they couldn't really do that with a baby around.

Other than that, things had been slow, and it made me feel like something big was coming. Because that's how things seemed to be going lately. One big blow up after another. Even dad, for the few hours I had seen him this week, felt like something was coming. Despite everything, I knew I could still trust his instincts on things like that. He seemed to be doing better in general, which I was glad about. Drinking less, working reasonable time frames, relaxing like he should to keep steady. I was glad he had friends like Kurt and Lacey to help him because I sure as hell shouldn't have been the one trying. Neither of us was emotionally stable enough to be trying to help—.

I was broken from my thoughts by a low pitched droning noise blaring across the city.

"The fuck is that?" I asked.

"Taylor?!" Abby shouted over the sound, "Taylor we need to leave!" I had never heard that much emotion in her voice. I'd never heard her speak with so much fear.

"What's going on?" I asked, rushing to the front to find Abby throwing pastries into bags and tying them up.

"Endbringer! We need to leave! I have somewhere out of the city I can go. Do you need me to take you anywhere? Do you want to come with me?"

"Endbringer?" I asked, the word sending my brain into overdrive. I had a lot to consider in that moment. Of course we were going to stay and fight, but what would we do? I had no idea if we were strong enough to fight one, especially if it was the Bird. And my dad. I doubted Kurt and Lacey had a place to stay out of the city, so what would I do about them? Letting them into Las Noches to hide until it was over was a big risk, but I'd be willing to take it if it kept them safe. And dad had power so what if he wanted to stay and fight despite not knowing exactly what—.

"Taylor!" Abby shouted, knocking me out of my thoughts. "Keep your head in the game! We need to get going! The streets are going to be crowded soon so we need to go now!"

"I'm staying," I answered, getting a shocked look from her. "You take off, I don't want to slow you down. I'll lock up and head to my friends house. They stay nearby, running distance is maybe a couple minutes for me."

"Taylor I'm not leaving you here! Especially not to lock up! The shop is fucked either way, and your life is more important than—,"

"Abby!" I shouted, making her jump. "Take off. I'll be fine. I promise you I will be fine. I'll get to my friends house and call my dad to see what he's going to do. I'll take it from there, alright? You don't have to worry about me."

"But I do," she said harshly. "Do you think I'd hire you if I didn't care? It's a rare thing that I care about people who aren't family, Taylor! I'm not going to just let you—," She stopped as I hugged her. She was still for a moment before she hugged me back and I could tell she was annoyed with me if her balled fists was anything to go by.

"I have to make sure my dad is okay. We're staying in the city since we don't have anywhere else to go and I don't want to slow you down. I know I'll be fine and it's more important to me that you make it out of the city while you can. I'm leaving the store right behind you. I promise when everything calms down I'll be alright. I'm not going anywhere. You know I'm tougher than that."

Abby growled, but it was one of resignation more than anger.

"Fine!" She said, pulling away from the hug and holding my shoulders to look at me. "But you better be fine when I come back."

"I promise I'll be alright," I said sternly.

She took a moment to examine the resolution in my eyes before nodding.

"Take care of yourself. Please, Taylor."

"I will. You go. I don't want you caught in traffic when this thing shows up."

Abby nodded and tossed me the keys before taking off out the back door. I heard her car take off just as my phone rang.

"What's up?" I asked far too casually as I go about locking the doors to the shop.

"It's me," Lisa said. "Quick update, Coils dead and I can apparently set kill people by burning their souls."

"Brutal. What else?"

"Coil had a little girl kidnapped. Turns out it's the mayor's niece and she has some crazy strong precog ability. Also, I think there's something really scary in Coil's basement, but that can wait until after we deal with this fucking Endbringer. Do you know which one it is?"

"No idea. We're coastal so I'd be more than willing to guess Leviathan. You called the others yet?" I asked, turning off the lights looking out through the shop windows. Cars sped down the street as fast as they could and a flood of people rushed down the sidewalks all trying to get either home or to a shelter. It was a chaos I can't say I've seen in the city despite everything that's happened. The fear was heavy in the air like the blaring siren signaling Brockton's doom. The panic on the people's faces as I closed the shutters showed just how much more terrifying Endbringers were compared to any other threat save for Sleeper, the Blasphemies, or the Nine.

"Shit… Okay, Alec and I will be up in a bit. I need to get these mercenaries to sit still while we fight. We're fighting right?" She asked.

"Of course. I'm gonna check on my dad then get the others together. Get everyone organized for me when you're done with your thing."

"Got it. See you in a few."

We hung up and I took off for Kurt and Lacey's place. Didn't take longer than a few seconds to get there, and I was glad to see them getting packed up to leave the city when I ran up.

"Hey!" I called, as I reached the car.

"Taylor!" Lacey shouted, pulling me into a tight hug. "I'm so glad you made it to us. We're leaving the city. I don't trust those bunkers."

"I… How's my dad?" I asked, wanting to avoid the topic of me staying in the city.

"He's doing surprisingly well considering. He's helping Kurt pack everything we need."

"I'll help," I said.

"It's fine, They're almost done. We just need to pack everything and we're heading out."

"Alright," I said nodding. "I'll help get everything in."

Dad and Kurt walked from the house carrying suitcases and boxes and we moved to help.

"Taylor!" Dad said when he spotted me.

"Hey," I said, grabbing one of the suit cases from him. "I came to check on you guys. See what your plans were. Lacey says you're leaving the city, which is good."

"We can find a hotel or something to stay in when we get to Manchester. No way we're staying here," Kurt said.

"I'm just glad you're getting out of the city. Who knows what's about to go down here," I said as I put the case in the trunk.

"You're talking like you're not coming," Kurt said.

I didn't say anything, but it suddenly felt very awkward. I didn't know how I was going to say I was staying. Dad knew why I would want to despite the fact he didn't look happy about it.

"Kurt," Lacey said harshly, pulling the man away. "What did I tell you?" I heard her ask.

"She knows?!" I whispered harshly to my dad.

"She kind of figured it out," He shrugged helplessly. "They know about me, it was… difficult keeping it under control, but Lacey made the connection that you were probably a Cape too. My refusal to confirm or deny it probably didn't help."

"It's fine," I sighed. It wasn't fine but I knew I could at least trust them not to accidentally out me or something. "I'm surprised you're leaving so easily."

"I want to stay," He said. "I want nothing more than to stay and help but…" He sighed and scratched his head.

"You still don't know exactly what your power does."

"I have ideas, but nothing concrete. More than that it's not like I have a costume or anything to wear to fight. And even then—,"

"Dad," I said, knocking him from his pity party. "I prefer you be out of the city. I couldn't stop you from using your powers, but the last thing I want is you trying to face down an Endbringer before you even know what you can do. I'm pretty sure I can take a hit or two, but I don't think you'd be getting back up."

"Yeah… Yeah, I know. Just…" He pulled me into a tight hug I immediately returned. "Promise me you'll be safe, Taylor. I don't want to get back and find you dead because you overestimated yourself."

"I promise," I said. "You'll get back and I'll still be right here. No reason to worry." Surprisingly, I was completely confident in that declaration. I felt completely sure that I'd make it through whatever today was about to throw at me.

"You better be. I couldn't… I wouldn't be able to handle losing you."

"I know. Nothing is going to happen to me."

"You ready, Danny?" Lacey asked from a few feet away.

"Yeah," He said, pulling away from the hug. "Yeah, I'm ready."

"You be careful, Taylor," Lacey said, pulling me into a quick hug. "I don't want to hear about anything bad happening to you."

"I'll be fine. You guys go before the highways get too clogged up."

I stood at the end of the driveway and watched the car leave. There were still people getting their things out of their houses, even on this street, or trying to bunker down in their homes. I thought the latter idea was stupid, but hopefully it wouldn't be.

I went behind the house and opened a Garganta, stepping into Las Noches a moment later. Everyone was seated, we had finally gotten around to getting some chairs for the others, and half of them looked nervous.

"Alrighty ladies and gents, it's a big one," I sighed as I sat in my seat. "I'm guessing it's Leviathan, which is better than the other two. I'm not sure how we'd fare against Ziz's scream or Behemoth's instant kill zone. Honestly, this is probably the best stress tester for our powers we could ask for."

"That's certainly one way of looking at it," Lisa snorted.

"So let's get non combatants out of the way first: Grue, Bitch, you two will be running search and rescue. That's the best place to have you. Alec, you should probably be doing the same at first. Outside of a Cero you don't really have anything to throw at Leviathan. It's the same for Li— actually, Lisa, if you have eyes on the Endbringer, would it be possible to give everyone in your range constant vision on it?"

"Probably?" She said. "Yeah, I could. Just make an illusion that let's people see through buildings, it could work."

"Great, I want you doing that and analysis. Keep eyes on target so we always know where it's headed and where it is. Paige, Sherrel, sorry to say but you two are going to have to be on babysitting duty."

"What?!" They and Kayden cried.

"Kayden, we need you in the fight and there's no one else to watch Aster for you while we fight. She'll be safe with them here," I said.

She looked conflicted the idea, but reluctantly nodded. "Just… Okay, They can watch her."

"I ain't never done this before, but I'll keep the kid entertained for a while," Sherrel said.

"I like babies. They aren't too hard to deal with," Paige says.

"Now, I am planning to mostly run combat medic. I'll be in the fight and if anyone gets hurt or killed, I should be able to bring them back to full health in an instant."

"Why can't I run combat medic?" Alec asked.

"Because you don't have anything useful against and Endbringer. I don't use it often because I have trouble controlling it, but my spatial slicing does work at range."

"How bad are you at controlling it, exactly?" Kayden asked.

"It's a precision problem. I usually just end up cutting everything in my path instead of the specific area or thing I want."

"And what's the range on that?" Grue asked.

"A mile at least," I shrugged.

"Kay, you can keep combat medic. I can't do that shit," Alec waved his hand dismissively.

"As I was saying, that puts Theo, Missy, Madison, and Kayden on the front lines. Missy, you seem to be physically the strongest of us, so you're definitely a front line fighter. Theo, you know why. Your beams and gravity control should be extremely useful. Kayden, you have beams, same as Theo. Madison… I have a question actually."

"Shoot," She said.

"How big can you make your negation fields, and can you keep things from going into them?"

"I…" Her eyes scrunched up as she thought for a moment. "I don't know. I should be able to make it as large as a couple blocks at least. Never tried to stop stuff going in, just controlling what goes happens inside."

"Well try to make it as big as you can make it and keep fighting, and don't let any water inside if my hunch is right."

"Got it," She nodded.

"Any questions?" I ask.

"What happens if things get out of hand?" Theo asked.

"What do you mean out of hand?" Missy asked.

"I mean what if things start going downhill or the fight is tougher than we're expecting?"

"If things get dicey, we just have to go harder. We only need to drive him off if the fight is too hard. And we'll have the support of other Capes. If things go well and it seems like we can do it, the answer is still fight harder. No use letting it live if we can help it."

"What about a group attack?" Madison asked.

"Group attack?" Grue asked.

"Yeah," She nodded. "Like, what if we all got together and blasted a Cero in its face at the same time?"

"I'm not opposed to the idea," Alec raised his hand.

"Of course you aren't," Lisa rolled her eyes. "That said, if things are going well, I can see it happening. One last push to get things done."

"Good or bad, if we do group up for one big Cero, use the Oscuras," I said.

"Right," They nod.

"Now, Lisa, do you know where we're supposed to meet up with the other Capes willing to fight?"

"In fact, I do," She said.


	49. Edge 5.2

Apparently Coil had been an adviser for the PRT, so he had the designated meeting place in case of Endbringer on his computer. Convenient because it meant we could just pop out in the sky near the mall and make our way there. Bitch absolutely refused to have herself or her dogs carried, so we let her ride them there while we took off. There were still floods of people rushing to get to shelters that thinned out as we got near the meeting place. The streets were clogged with more foot traffic than cars, but I really hoped Abby and my dad could get out of the city. There was no telling how much damage we'd end up doing to the city and I didn't want them anywhere near that.

The building was where the Docks met Downtown and stood six stories high. It was nondescript and brown with the only defining feature being the stretch of beach right behind it. Dragon in one of her suits, a quadruped version, stood in the parking lot watching the ocean, staring down at the approaching storm cloud. Two PRT vans, probably smaller than Dragon's suit put together, sat in the empty parking lot with PRT Troopers surrounding it. As we started to cross the parking lot the Troopers blocked our way.

A moment later we learned why. A muffled clap of thunder rang in the air and half a dozen people appeared in empty parking lot. One in particular caught my eye and I felt a flash of awe I hadn't felt in months. Alexandria— THE Alexandria— Stood in the middle of the lot with a handful of other Capes at her back. She was still every bit the heroine I saw her as when I was a kid. Seeing her reminded me of everything I had once aspired to be. She took in her surroundings as she entered the building and we started around the troopers to avoid anymore teleports. One Cape, dressed in blue and black, stayed back before teleporting off again.

As we rounded toward the building to the door another dull clap of thunder alerted me to the arrival of new Capes. None of them I recognized, but the brighter colors screamed "hero" at me. The one in front stood out to me in particular. He had silver skin, but more than that, his hair and eyes were too. It took me a second to realize what I was seeing as I noticed the chain link fence that was stuck to him and seemed to slowly absorbing into him, the same as the prongs of the fork sticking from his neck.

"Weld," Wraith informed me lowly as we approached them. "Leader of the Boston Wards." I could only assume she picked it up from Coil's computers.

He seemed to pick up on the fact I didn't want to be touched and offered me a courteous nod, which I returned, as we entered the building. He seemed to be one of the moor open minded heroes.

The lobby was filled with folding chairs, lined up in a rows and columns like a makeshift auditorium. The far end of the room had a podium backed by three large televisions which in turn were backed by large windows giving us a perfect view of the approaching storm.

"Ominous," Rhapsody said.

"Shut up," Gorgon said. "This whole situation is ominous."

"Yeesh, don't turn those bony claws on me for making a joke," He replied coolly.

"Stop your bickering. It's not helping anything," Purity said.

I mostly ignored my teams antics in exchange for surveying the room. There already a lot of capes with more coming in by the moment and only maybe a third of us were local. Near the front of the room I saw Armsmaster with two halberds strapped to his back, and he had annoyed me enough during the week that I had to resist the urge to crack a joke—even to myself—about him trying to compensate, speaking to Miss Militia and Legend. There was another flash of excitement at seeing one of my childhood heroes here. I knew they would be here, but it was different experiencing than thinking about it. Especially for the fact that even if I hadn't already lost the ability to go full fangirl over any of them, this wasn't the time or place for it. Legend himself was a sight to behold. His suit was damn near skin tight and showed off his physique—which almost made me wish I had a shot at him despite his being gay—and was covered in a design somewhere between fire and lightning.

Off to the side, staring out the window, was Eidolon. He had never been my favorite, that place belonged to Alexandria by a mile, but I had to respect the man. One of the "Big Five" when it came to Capes. The ones who, when it came to arguing about who would win in a straight fight, the response would always be "Obviously, but besides them". The Endbringers took the top three spots, it was hard for them not too considering everything they'd done to the world, while Scion and Eidolon took fourth and fifth respectively for opposite reasons. The first just for being so strong with the powers he had and the latter for just having every power, despite his limited use of them.

I stopped my musing on Cape power levels, I was almost starting to sound like Madison, and scanned the rest of the room. It pleased me to no end that the Empire didn't get the chance to be here, meaning the only other local Capes were the Wards, who were sort of mingled with one another, New Wave, and Parian, who was talking with a very young looking girl that I was actually able to remember. Bambina. She was a notorious villain, actually managing to get sponsorships because her name was just that well known, and a lot older than she looked. Parian obviously didn't seem to be having much fun talking to her, but wasn't exactly relieved when she got dragged off to a group containing Shadow Stalker either. The Travelers were here too, though I wasn't sure I'd count them as locals.

New Wave, at least the teens, were sitting near the Wards and Glorly Girl was holding Gallants hand. Seemed they were back on for this occasion. They were joking around and trying to lighten the mood despite the situation but it seemed forced. Weld and Aegis could barely keep the tension low amongst their teams and it showed. The adults from New Wave were sitting in not-quite a circle to huddle up and discuss their plans. Between the two groups, sitting backwards on a chair with her arms folded across the back and looking miserable was Panacea.

I wanted to talk with her, but that could wait for the moment as I kept looking over the room. There were mostly Protectorate Capes around, not that it was any sort of surprising. Myrrdin, Chevalier, those weren't the types of guys to miss a fight like this. I was surprised, however, to see Haven had showed up. I probably shouldn't have been, but I was. It was a long way from the Bible Belt, but I wouldn't put it past them to just be regular helpers.

"Wraith," I said lowly, getting her attention.

"Yeah?" She asked, idly swatting at Rhapsody for something I missed him saying.

"Cover me and Panacea. Wanna talk to her."

"Gotcha. You're clear," She nodded.

I walked over to the girl and tapped her, pulling us into Vacio Mundo and pulling a chair up. She looked up just as I sat down and glared a bit at seeing it was me.

"What do you want?" She asked. "Better yet, why are you talking to me in front of every—, what?" She said, noticing we were the only ones there.

"This is one of my powers. I call it Vacio Mundo, the Empty World. Time doesn't flow here. It's essentially just a snapshot of the world taken as I enter," I said, making a viewfinder with my fingers with her right in the middle. "We're free to talk."

"I don't want to talk to you," She growls. "You've made things difficult enough for me."

"Oh?" I ask. "How so?"

"You told Carol, and most importantly Aunt Sarah, about the thing with my sister!" She snapped.

"Brandish was being kind of a bitch. Wanted to throw her daughters misdeeds in her face to prove a point and didn't consider it would affect you. My bad."

"Yeah, your bad that I'm having to deal with Vicky being annoyed at me cause they questioned me and I could lie because they already knew! Carol is acting like it's my fault Vicky can't keep her powers in check and she's especially mad at me because Aunt Sarah is taking my side and saying she should've kept a closer eye on Vicky! This is more stress than I've ever dealt with."

"Fuck, I'm real sorry about that," I sighed. "I didn't realize just how dysfunctional your family was. I should'a kept my mouth shut, but as I'm sure you know, Brandish tends to be a Grade A cunt and I wasn't gonna let her talk down to me like that. Guess it's a case of my pride getting the better of me. Either way, my bad. It's probably a bad time, but you're more than welcome to take your spot on our team whenever you feel like."

She sighed, tossing her head back and looking at the ceiling before leaning back down so her hair covered her face.

"The fucked up part is it's looking more and more appealing by the day. I just… I feel like if I leave, even if it turns out to be better for me emotionally, I'd just be proving Carol right about me. That villainy is in my blood or something. And…"

"And having her be right about you is the least appealing thing on the planet," I agree with a nod.

"Yeah," She said slowly.

"To be fair, we're not exactly villains, just not completely heroic either. Of course as far as the PRT is concerned we might as well be villains, but we're all about making things better. We just see that sometimes that involves questionable or even illegal means."

"Illegal as in…?"

"As in regulating things to keep them to a minimum. You really think it's possible to stop prostitution or drug use in a town like Brockton Bay? No. Not with the city rotting away the way it has been. People are gonna turn to those things because they have nothing better in life. No job, no prospects, selling yourself or drugs is the way to survive. Conversely, using to take the pain away."

"So, what, you just take over as the dealers and pimps?" She asked harshly.

"The idea is to keep those things in check until we can get the city back on its feet. Wraith proposed fixing the Docks so we could get the shipping industry up again. Maybe not internationally, but domestically. Get some money in. With our powers, it seems possible once we stop getting hit by waves of shit, but it's something we're hoping to try."

She stared at me silently, seemingly thinking it over.

"Of course, if you do decide to join, you wouldn't be obligated to participate in anything you didn't want to. Gorgon and Samael are the ones least likely to deal with that stuff and I mostly want to look at helping the homeless population for now."

"And you having territories?" She asked after a long moment.

"Mostly a way to keep other villains from showing up. If the Fallen or the Teeth or Accord caught wind there was free real estate in Brockton Bay they wouldn't hesitate to move in, then where are we? Back at square fucking one. This way, even if it's just for show, the other groups look at the city and say, "Oh, there's no space there unless we fight for it." And there's no way the fuckers are gonna want to mess with us if they can help it."

"What makes you say that?"

"Our track record. We took out Lung on our first official night out, we helped keep the city in tact during Bakuda's rampage, and we took out the Empire and Coil."

"You took out Coil?"

"Ah, that's a recent accomplishment by Wraith. But the point stands, we've been virtually unstoppable from day one. And, if things go well today, the only ones who would want to step to us would be the really crazy bastards."

"What do you mean by "Well"?" She asked hesitantly. I could tell the idea of us being stronger than she'd seen was a scary one to her.

"You think we've been showing our full power this whole time?" I asked with a wide grin despite the fact she couldn't see it.

"You've been… You've been sandbagging this whole time? Even through the Empire rampage?" She asked with a hint of horror.

"We were trying to keep damage and loss of life to a minimum. We don't have to worry about that with an Endbringer."

"Am… Am I that strong?"

"Should be," I shrugged. "Speaking of, you figure out any of your powers?"

She shook her head, "Not really. I figured out I can tell when people are about to die, they get this weird black butterfly over their heads, but that's about it."

"Hm… That should be a hint to what your powers are, but I can't think of anything at the moment. Anyway, sorry about that shit with your family, Panpan. Let's head back so we don't miss anything." I reached over to touch her and she leaned away.

"Hold on. If I want to join you guys… During the fight or something. How do I get an outfit like yours?"

"You just… kinda visual the change," I shrugged. "Gorgon figured it out pretty easy."

"Typical," She scoffed. "Fine. But what about what the rest of my family will say about this?"

"They don't even know you left. We've got a pretty strong Stranger on our team."

"Of course you do," she rolled her eyes. "Yeah, let's head back."

I tapped her hand and we were back in the room. Legend had just gotten to the podium and was about to speak, so I got back to my team and had Wraith undo the illusion. I idly noticed Bitch had made it in at some point and was sitting with Grue near where Wraith was standing.

"We owe thanks to Armsmaster and Dragon," Legend said. He had the kind of voice that drew the ear with ease. Made you want to listen to him. "If not for their early alert system we'd have to jump into the fray as we arrived, but now we get time to gather together. Precious few minutes that can be used to prepare for Leviathan's arrival and hopefully, with some luck and skill, make today one of the good days." He was silent for a moment and I noticed a slight drop in mood before he spoke again. "But I feel you should all know your chances going in. Due to our statistics from previous battles with this beast, even a "good day" will unfortunately mean one out of every four of you are probably going to be dead before the end of the day."

"Real inspiring," Rhapsody said lowly, earning a swat from Wraith.

Legend paused to let everyone think on that. There were murmurs of worry amongst those who had never done this before, especially from the Wards. One in four dead was a lot of people, especially considering the number of people in the room. And that was only deaths. It didn't take injuries into account. Potentially career ending injuries or disfiguring wounds. I could tell a few people were more worried about losing an arm or leg than they were about actually dying. Not that I'd be letting it happen if I could help it.

Unsurprisingly, my team was resolute in the face of that number. Even Purity seemed confident in our ability to get her back to Aster at the end of it all. She, Grue, and Bitch were the only ones really vulnerable so it would be our job to make sure they made it out, but it was nice to see that even Bitch believed we'd make sure they made it.

"I want to tell you your chances now because you deserve to know," Legend said. "Because we rarely get to inform those brave enough to fight these monsters. The thing I want you to know, more than battle formations or anything like that, is do not underestimate Leviathan. I've seen too many good heroes and… and villains die because they thought they were stronger than they were. They got cocky thinking they could take on an Endbringer and they died for it."

He turned to the window, where the rain was now beating against the window like someone throwing change at it. The storm had reached the beach and I could see the water thrown across the shoreline from the force of the waves.

"We often think of Leviathan as the middle child; lacking in some way. He lacks the overwhelming force of Behemoth and he's not the cunning manipulator the Simurgh proves herself to be. That thinking is false. Leviathan might not be as specialized as his siblings, but he I still incredibly strong and incredibly cunning. You've seen the videos. You know what he can do physically. More than that he is not as dumb as you might assume. Do not attack thinking he lacks any form of tactics. You will be caught off guard otherwise.

"What you may not know from the videos is that he _does_ feel pain. He _does_ bleed. It's just a rare few attacks are capable of penetrating deep enough to cause him to do so. That's at least one way he doesn't differ from his siblings. What sets him apart the most is his focus on water. You all know of his water clone. Do not treat it like a simple splash of water. At the speed he moves, the surface tension makes it harder than concrete. He also has a crude hydrokinesis. I say "crude" but what I mean is Macro. Large scale control of water. This rain is no coincidence. It's him actively using his power to cause the storm. The force of this rain," He pointed to the window, seeming to bend at the force of the rain drops beating against it, "Is only a small portion of what he can do. There _will_ be water on the battlefield and we believe this is what allows him to move as fast as he does. Far faster than any speedster we have on record."

"Bet we're faster," Rhapsody said. Wraith didn't hit him this time. We were all in agreement that we could probably match Leviathan's speed.

"Despite everything Dragon and Armsmaster have done to help make this one of the good days, there are still things that are working in opposition to that. There is no better illustration of that then the days Leviathan won. Newfoundland, May ninth, 2005 and Kyushu, the night of November second and the morning of the third, 1999. Ten million dead between those attacks and two sunken land masses. These were grave mistakes on the part of defending heroes. A lack of understanding of not only our enemy but our battlefield. Our only strategy at the time was to try and minimize the damage until Leviathan was beaten of Scion showed up. We've now been able to split up his targets into soft targets and hard targets. The hard targets are the ones where we can afford to buy time and wear him down. Soft targets are locations where we cannot afford to play the waiting game."

A diagram of the city appeared on one of the TV's showing what was essentially a cave filled with water under the city. I knew what that meant before it even left Wraiths mouth.

"We're a soft target," She whispered.

That… changed things slightly. Not necessarily our battle plan, but it did mean Leviathan might have a source of water _inside_ the negation field Nihilus was going to put up, which put us back at square one.

"Brockton Bay, _this location_ , is a soft target. This city was originally founded for the ease of coastal trade and the aquifer allowing the settlers access to easily obtained fresh water. This aquifer is the weakness of the city. We fully expect Leviathan to manipulate this underground water source to erode the stone and sand, and with the tidal waves from above…"

He trailed off, giving everyone enough time to visualize the outcome.

"We have to end this _fast_. Each wave he brings upon us will be stronger than the last and that will be one step closer losing the city. This means our top two priorities are keeping eyes on Leviathan and finding way to hurt him. If he slips through our defenses that's time lost trying to find him we could spend on our assault. If you cannot hurt him, support those who can. Any damage we do could help delay his next attack." He paused, looking at the window rattling under the force of the pounding rain. I was hesitant to even call it rain at this point. It was more like pressure washers being fired from the sky.

"Nihilus," I said a bit louder than I meant too, inadvertently drawing attention to us. "Negation field, now. Big as you can make it starting from where the sand meets the wood on the docks."

I heard murmurs of awe and shock as the rain instantly stopped.

"How big is it?" I asked Wraith.

"Larger than my range. From what I can see she's probably got the entirety of the Docks and at least half of Downtown covered."

That earned wide eyed looks from Legend and a few others but no one commented on it immediately.

"Right, well," Legend started, "I want you all to know you're doing a good thing. The best thing you can do. _This_ is why we're tolerated. Why society allows and accounts for Capes to walk and fight amongst the city streets. For situations like this, where not having us would mean the loss of life and land. We are here to keep the world safe, even if we're not all on the same side. Fighting here and forestalling the inevitable is why we're allowed to even have sides, your sacrifices if you choose to make them, will be remembered."

With that, Legend looked to Armsmaster, who promptly took the stand. He was authoritative and to the point, though less impassioned as Legend. I hardly listened as he explained the armbands that Dragon had designed that the Wards would be passing out.

"So, this is a problem," I said to my team.

"I can't believe I forgot about the fucking aquifer," Wraith sighed.

"It's fucked, but we'll get through it," Rhapsody said.

"Agreed. I haven't been on the team long, but I think we can do this," Gorgon said.

"Bitch," I said seriously, snapping her attention to me. "This is looking more difficult than I anticipated. Do you want to go back to Las Noches with your dogs? We're aiming for all out assault here and I don't want you or them to die because I pushed you into a fight you can't take."

"Stand-by. Call if you need, but we'll try to avoid fighting," She said gruffly.

I nodded. If she thought she could act as a taxi for the weaker Capes, I'd let her.

"Does this mean I get to fight?" Rhapsody asked.

"Yes, it means you get to fight," I sighed. "That said, what I said before goes double now. No more holding back, no worrying about buildings. If you have to level a block or two to get a good attack off, I'll fucking fix it if I can. Worry about keeping Leviathan in your sight and attacking as much as you can."

I noticed a group of Capes stand and Legend spoke, directing us to follow the Protectorate first and foremost for these things. A Ward, Clockblocker, strode by and handed us all the armbands. He lingered in front of Gorgon for a moment before taking off. We took the moment to set up our armbands, I'd heard enough to know how it worked, but Wraith had us covered even if I didn't.

We finally started listening to Legend again as he was organizing groups. We'd be splitting up, Gorgon going to Alexandria's group while the rest of us split into Legend's since we would largely be focusing on long ranged attacks. As we moved one of the heroes, Bastion, screamed. A massive wave approached the building and forcefields went up to try and stop it. Somehow I hadn't noticed Narwhal was in the room, even if I was talking with Panacea when she arrived the woman was seven feet of forcefield scales who refused to wear clothes. Eyes were drawn to her like magnets. The forcefields proved to be unneeded as the wall of water was repelled effortlessly by Nihilus' negation field.

"Nihilus, how are you feeling?" I asked.

"Fine. I honestly forgot I had the field up. I can still fight perfectly fine," She shrugged.

"Great, let's get it together," I told them.

We pointedly ignored the confused and surprised looks the other Capes were giving us as we got into our groups and prepared to fight. From the window I saw the crystalline beast emerge from the water like a Kaiju from one of those old monster movies. He dashed from the water, stopping at the edge of the negation field and looked out over the city. Everyone else was in a panic as he stood mere meters away from the building we were in, and we started to rush out to fight him, but all I could feel was a sick sense of giddiness in the pit of my stomach. The kind of knots you got in your stomach from the adrenaline of anticipation.

As we got outside and I saw the beast at his full height, what little light that broke through his storm reflecting off of his crystal skin, I unconsciously moved my hand to cover the manic smile stretched across my face. It had been so long since I felt any emotion as strongly as I was feeling now, staring at this unholy monster that had come to destroy my city, that it was nearly overwhelming. I had never been much of an adrenaline junkie, always preferring a cup of tea and a book over roller coasters and the like, but for some reason, staring down a foe that had built up as impossible, I couldn't help that the idea of a challenge seemed so… _Exciting_.


	50. Edge 5.3

The stare off didn't last long. Leviathan dashed through the building we were just in, sending brick, glass, and concrete scattering towards us which the forcefield team managed to block in time. A wall of water followed after him and dissipating upon hitting Nihilus' negation field. Even the water on his skin didn't make it though. Alexandria and her group took advantage of the the monsters moment of stunned stillness to attack. I took the moment to summon my weapons: a pair of bone white flintlock pistols. While they didn't have a specific purpose, I used the right for my special Cero while the left was for spatial attacks.

Alexandria and her group flew in and hit Leviathan, thought he barely budged. Gorgon had done the most damage, small cracks webbing from where she punched him in the leg. The blasters fired next as the close range people did their best to get out of the way.

Leviathan dashed.

He was fast. So fast that I was barely able to keep up with him at first. I had no idea how fast he moved, but he was nothing but a blue smear across my vision for long enough I wasn't able to react to him.

He appeared in the middle of us sending blood and bodies flying away in the aftermath of a simple dash.

_Chubster deceased, CD-5, Fierceling deceased, CD-5, Ascendant deceased, CD-5, Gallant deceased, CD-5, Zigzag deceased, CD-5, Ballistic down, CD-5, Uglymug down, CD-5_

"Split up! Don't give him such easy targets!" Legend shouted, making us scatter. I aimed my right pistol down at the sludge of blood left as Leviathan dashed off towards Alexandria, shattering the wall of a building as he sped off, and pulled the trigger. The dead were back as if nothing had happened, confused about what was going on, and the injured where uninjured.

_The deceased fighters appear to be back._

"What?!" Several people asked, looking at the people who had previously died. I didn't bother with them, following after Leviathan. He lashed his tail at a building that one of the Blasters was on, taking out a whole floor and sending the building tipping. One of the flyers pulled the person off the building.

I aimed my my left gun at Leviathan's head and pulled the trigger. The air around it distorted and small gashes appeared on its head. A green Cero slammed into its chest a moment later followed by Legends blasts. Legends beams were a sight to behold, twisting and turning at odd angles to hit in precise spots aiming to knock the beast off its feet. The precision he demonstrated almost made me wish I could accomplish something similar, though I was more than happy with the power I could display.

Leviathan wasn't one to stay down for long despite being hammered the way he was, blasts and fists hitting wherever they could. He dashed about the battlefield, slamming through buildings and doing his best to stomp out Capes. Claws and tail whipped around with blinding speed, brick, glass, and metal were tossed around, only deflected or blocked by the forcefield team. Leviathan dashed through our defenses, blood and debris following in his wake. He was like a giant blue blender the way he sliced everything that stepped into his path.

_Aegis deceased, CD-5, Sham deceased, CD-5, Apotheosis down, CD-5, Sundancer down, CD-5, Escutcheon deceased, CD-5, Jotun deceased, CD-5, Acoustic deceased, CD-5_

I reversed that, ignoring the notice that they were back in the fight. Leviathan swept his tail across the ground, hitting several forcefields and sending everything on the ground into the air.

Shielder blocked a car thrown up by the mayhem that was headed for his sister and force sent them both flying into the side of a building. Leviathan stepped, smearing across my vision, before stopping dead. His feet were slipped from under him and it took me a moment to see why. Gorgon had slammed into his chest, all of her arms hitting dead center, small cracks webbing across his crystal skin.

"Gorgon, clear!" I shouted. She moved, getting next to me as I pulled the trigger on my right gun.

I'd never used this attack in an actual fight, but I wasn't going to hold back on it now. Cero after Cero shot off rapid fire, each the size of bowling ball at least. Hundreds of them fired off per second slamming into Leviathan along with Myrddin, Legend, Lady Photon, Laserdream, and a dozen other Blasters I couldn't keep track of through the chaos. For good measure I fired my left gun as we hammered him, distortions appearing all over his body and cutting deep into the beast.

The assault didn't last long, Leviathan tiring of us and trying to burst through us. Narwhal put up several forcefields, including some jutting out to act as blades, but they were shattered at the speed Leviathan was aiming to hit us at. He broke through our line and sped deeper into the city.

"Wraith, keep eyes on him! Pepper him with Cero while you're at it!" I shouted. "Samael, try to slow him down!"

"On it!" The said in unison.

The difference in speed wasn't all that apparent to others, but I could see him better now as he barreled through buildings and Capes alike. He didn't smear across my vision anymore, but he was still fast enough that it was a problem. As for Wraith's solution, I laughed. A giant red arrow pointed out Leviathan to everyone near and everyone who could flew to meet him before he could cause too much damage.

Alexandria made it first followed shortly by Legend, Gorgon, then the rest of my team. Samael peppered him in explosions and electron blasts. Purity was firing for the eyes while Rhapsody, of course, was aiming for the groin. Gorgon was pounding away at his chest, aiming to cave it in and the cracks she'd put before were worsening. I fired more spatial distortions, hoping to shave off whatever the fuck he was made of and make it easier to hurt him and Nihilus followed my lead with her bubbles.

Leviathan was not a fan.

He spun, tail and claws whipping around to kill and knock back anyone who was near. Alexandria and Gorgon were sent flying while several others were sliced in half. Laserdream couldn't move in time and Shielder tried to block the blow only for them to both be bisected by Leviathan's claws.

"No!" Lady Photon shouted, anger and grief showed clear on her face.

_Laserdream deceased, CD-6, Shielder deceased, CD-6, Manpower deceased-CD-6, Bambina down, CD-6, Prince of Blades deceased, CD-6, Gallant deceased, CD-6, Kid Win down, CD-6, Jouster deceased, CD-6, Triumph down, CD-6, Arbiter deceased, CD-6_

I revived and healed them all and fired another wave of Cero at Leviathan to buy them time to regroup. He came after me and Narwhal put up layered shields to stop him only for all of them to be shattered. I phased through the attack, firing a wave of distortions at his back when he passed through me. He whipped around, his tail dropping a building in the process.

"Move!" Gorgon shouted.

I dodged to the side just as a massive black beam shot past me and into Leviathan. The buildings stood no chance, but I could fix those later. Then, as suddenly as the beam had started it stopped. I blinked, unsure why Gorgon would stop the beam after only a couple of seconds. When I turned to look at her I was staring at Leviathan's back and just managed to see Gorgon fly through a building.

"Is he… Is he getting faster?!" Samael asked.

"I think he's getting stronger!" Rhapsody said.

"No… He's… I think he's been sandbagging this whole time," Wraith said.

"What the fuck?!"

"He's been sandbagging!" She shouted back. "We're hurting him and he's pissed. He's actually trying to put up a fight!"

"And what makes you say that?" I asked a little too calmly.

"Samael still has his gravity on Leviathan but he's moving just as fast if not faster than before. He's dropping buildings with a casual swipe of his tail rather than just breaking things apart. He's pulling more power from somewhere."

"Then we're fucked!" Rhapsody shouted.

"Maybe not. We just need him to leave. The fight just got harder, but our illustrious leader said it best: Today is about breaking limits. Let's go harder and see what happens."

"Well put, Wraith," I smiled.

We all aimed and fired, multicolored Cero slammed into Leviathan at the same time. They pushed him away, but don't seem to be doing as much damage as before. Them a rumbling sound echoed around us. The sound of metal straining, being pulled and bent, then a snap. Water flowed from the pipes of the surrounding buildings and landed on Leviathan's skin. It wasn't a big layer, not nearly as big as any of the videos I'd seen, but any water was a problem with this beast.

"That's bad," Samael said.

Leviathan moved, his water clone only a second behind, and we managed to dodge as he slammed through another building. The water clone broke on the debris, sending gallons of water splashing to the ground and flooding the streets.

"That's very bad," he amended.

Leviathan turned to face us, ignoring the beams slamming into the water on its skin, and I knew things had just gotten far more interesting.


	51. Edge 5.4

His sudden increase in speed and power turned Leviathan from "he's fast but I can still physically see him" to a literal "blink and you miss it" torpedo of death. He dashed down the street, heading straight for Alexandria and I'd almost missed the fact that he moved. The only real indication was his change in poster followed closely by the ice cold vacuum of air and water that followed in his wake, then the water clone.

"Shit!" Wraith shouted, getting out of the way as the water clone shot towards her instead of following after the original. The building she was standing on flooded, the windows shattering at the force of the clone and I was slightly surprised the building wasn't bowled over by the force. A loud crack filled the air and I turned to see Alexandria flying through the air, too far for her to have just been hit.

"He hit her so fast there was a sound delay!" Rhapsody shouted. "This is fucked up!"

Leviathan spun, whipping his tail at the other flying bricks that got close to him and knocking them through buildings. Legend's lasers still hit home, but they weren't making his skin red hot like before. Gorgon was up close, hammering him with blows when she could, but was obviously doing less damage than before.

"Stop bitching, Rhapsody!" I shouted back. "If you have time to bitch you have time to fight, so get to it!" I raised my gun and fired off a volley of Cero from my gun. I had to be careful how long I let it go because he was moving a lot sooner than before. Less than a second was the longest I could go before I'd end up hitting a building or the other combatants. That was still enough time for hundreds of Cero, but that felt like a drop in the bucket compared to before.

"Yeah!" Nihilus shouted, summoning her spear. "You were the one complaining you had to be on rescue!" She said, channeling energy into her spear.

"Yeah, but that was before this bullshit!" He said, dashing down and pulling someone out of the flood of water on the ground.

"Catch this you stupid lizard!" Nihilus shouted, throwing her spear as hard as she could.

Leviathan turned in time for the spear to stick in on of his eyes.

The the world flashed green.

Leviathan stumbled back, falling into a building and Gorgon came down like meteor on his chest. She screamed as she pounded into him, though her onslaught didn't last for long. He called his water to him and it slammed down on his chest where Gorgon was. Or had been. She managed to dodge at the last second and Leviathan's body was covered in water again.

"That was a hell of a move!" Samael shouted as he and Purity fired lasers down on the beast as he stood.

"I came up with the idea a while ago," Nihilus said as she recalled her spear. "Never had the chance to use it til now."

"It's intense," I commended, firing off several distortions at Leviathan.

His skin peeled away from the deep gashes giving him the appearance of a gem in the middle of being cut. Deep angular cuts in his skin and body. He shook his head as if trying to clear his head before dashing forward again. He was aiming for Nihilus, but I was in his way. It was nothing to phase through him but decided to see how big a chunk I could take out of him in the process. I lowered down to just below his chest as he dashed forward and shifted my whole body, planning to saw through whatever the hell he was made of and leave a Taylor sized chunk in his midsection.

The plan did not work out.

The second I made contact I felt pain. A sharp jolt like lightning ran through me and all I could feel was the immense pain in an immense ever expanding fractal. I felt like I could see myself, shattered like the reflection in a broken mirror, then it was gone.

I took a deep gasping breath as Leviathan dashed back, apparently feeling whatever the fuck that was too. I managed to stay in the air, but I was hunched over, hand at my throat as I tried to get my breathing back under control. The pain was still there, deep but fading. I barely had time to think about what exactly happened before I was suddenly pushed to the side and through an apartment window.

"Watch out!" Nihilus shouted, her voice far away as she slammed into me. I didn't have time to register what was happening before she was gone, replaced by Leviathan as I slumped dumbly against someone's couch. I was still trying to catch my breath when Dragon called the name.

_Nihilus down, DB-4_

"Nihilus!" I shouted, forgetting my fatigue and dashing after her.

I found her stuck in the ground on the other side of an office building, which she'd been tossed through.

"Shit, you okay?" I asked, pulling her out of the ground.

"Pain," She grunted as she made it to her feet. "Thanks," She offered as I healed her up.

"I should be the one thanking you," I scoffed as we rushed back to the fight. "You took a hit for me. You shouldn't have."

"I just… Moved," She shrugged.

"Still, thanks," I said.

We got back to find Leviathan frozen. Somehow Clockblocker managed to convince someone to get him close enough to freeze the beast, but I was just glad we got some breathing room.

"Wraith!" I shouted, getting her attention.

"What's up boss?" She asked, coming down.

"There's something up with that thing," I pointed at Leviathan, idly aware of Miss Militia setting something up on a nearby roof. "When I tried to phase cut it, it was like… I was just in pain. It was like I could see myself like looking through broken glass, fractured."

I watched her eyes dart around, mind obviously working overtime at the information.

"You passed through the base of his tail this time, the groin area," She said.

"Yeah. But I also tried to cut him at the same time. And my cuts don't seem to be doing as much damage as before with how much of him we've apparently shaved off."

Her eye twitched and she rubbed her head. Armsmaster and Alexandria were clearing people from the block. I hopefully whatever they had planned worked if it required that much prep.

"I feel like I'm so close to a break through," She sighed.

"Fire!" Armsmaster shouted.

We snapped our heads to see what was going on. Leviathan was moving again and Miss Militia had just fired some bombs at him. The first exploded just behind him as he tried to dodge only to get pulled back. The tip of his tail got caught and the beast fought against the pull even as the nearby buildings. It was almost funny watching him fight against the pull of the black hole, even as it slowly ate his tail.

"That's one of Bakuda's bombs," Nihilus said as another bomb landed on the beasts head, this one had no obvious visual effect, but I could tell it was doing damage, layer after layer of its crystalline skin shaved off. The black hole stopped, exploding once its pull was done. The explosion didn't do anything, but that didn't matter in the long run.

"Gorgon, knock him up," I shouted.

"On it!"

The girl dashed forward and up, rocketing into Leviathan's chin and sending him into the air. She hit him again. The again. Then again. Each hit sending Leviathan further and further into the air until he was clear above the buildings we were near.

"Fire!" I shouted. Every blaster who could hear me did, a rainbow of lasers smashing into the beast as he twisted and thrashed in the air. The onslaught lasted nearly fifteen seconds but felt far longer. Then, Gorgon grabbed him and he started spinning. Faster and faster they spun as they head for the ground until she slammed him down, planting his head in the street like a plant.

"She just Izuna Dropped a fucking Endbringer! This is an amazing day!" Rhapsody shouted.

Leviathan stood and tossed his head back as if in a bestial shout, the little water he had access to spinning around him rapidly. I felt a sudden pull and a sharp pain from inside my body but managed to stop whatever it was before it got too much. I rubbed my stomach, the phantom pains from whatever caused it still there. I looked up to check on the others and was greeted by the sight of red.

Then the names started.

_Myrddin deceased, CD-6, Legend deceased, Armsmaster deceased, CD-6, Miss Militia deceased, CD-6, CD-6, Dauntless deceased, CD-6, Lady Photon deceased, CD-6, Laserdream deceased, CD-6, Shielder deceased, CD-6, Chevalier deceased, CD-6, Rime deceased, CD-6, Jotun deceased, CD-6, Triumph deceased, CD-6…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I started writing and realized the level of escalation I started the chapter with didn't make sense. So expect 5.5 to be crazy. If you don't know what an Izune Drop is, the most popular example would be the Primary Lotus from Naruto or Vega's command grab from Street Fighter. Taylor's phase cutting does not mix with Endbringer cores.


	52. Edge 5.5

When I was a little girl I had always wondered why so many characters in stories would say stuff like "I laugh in the face of danger!" or "Danger is my middle name!". I had always assumed it was just some cheesy line to make the characters seem cooler. After all, fearlessness was cool. It was the mark of someone who was completely sure of themselves, of someone who was confidant they could make it through any situation. It never appealed to me personally, but I figured that's what it was there for. Now? Actually being in one of those situations? The intense feeling of fear at exactly what I was seeing and rushing adrenaline pushed nervous laughter from my mouth. There was still an undercurrent of excitement at a real fight but this…

_Bambina deceased, CD-6, Eidolon deceased, CD-6, Aegis deceased, CD-6, Wraith deceased, CD-6, Rhapsody deceased, CD-6, Nihilus deceased, CD-6, Samael deceased, CD-6, Purity deceased, CD-6, Trickster deceased, CD-5, Sundancer deceased, CD-5, Shadow Stalker deceased, CD-5, Grue Deceased, CD-5, Hellhound deceased…_

This was insanity. Some of those names were over a block away from us. It didn't… It didn't make any sense that he could just do something like that, ripping the blood out of people. Yet here I was, frozen as I watched the thick sea of blood merge with Leviathan's supply of water, giving him a horror movie glow. I felt sick, like I would throw up into my mask. I wanted nothing more than to move, to attack, but I was frozen, watching the bodies fall from the sky while Leviathan stared me down, daring me to try something, the list of names still going droning on into background noise as my heartbeat grew louder in my ears.

"—sanct!" I felt Alexandria shove me. "Sacrosanct! Snap out of it!" She shouted again.

"This is…"

"I know," She snarled. "He should have retreated by now but…" She shook her head. "You can fix this right? Reverse it like you did before?"

"Yeah," I nodded, eyes still on Leviathan. If he decided to move again I didn't want to be caught off guard.

"Listen to me well, Sacrosanct," Alexandria's voice was grave, like she planned to kill me if I disobeyed whatever she was about to tell me, "No one can remember this. If they do, it's over. Participation in these fights drops to zero and we lose by default. We have to lie to them. He pulled water from the aquifer and stabbed everyone in range. Something. They just can't know what he really did, got it?" She asked tensely.

"Yeah," I nodded again. I completely understood where she was coming from. Endbringer attacks were already one of the greatest sources of collective anxiety. If people knew they could do stuff like this it would be over. Mass suicides, an uptick in Fallen attacks, absolute despair on a global level. They'd win and humanity would be over. Without a way to get off Earth Bet that would be it.

"I'm glad you understand. So if you could fix this before he starts moving again, that would be great."

"Actually, why isn't he moving?" I asked. Leviathan hadn't moved at all since he killed everyone. He was just standing there. Menacingly. So what was the problem? He should have been attacking. Leaving. Something.

"No clue," She shrugged. "This has never happened before. But if you could get to the fixing part?!" She said harshly.

"Right," I nodded.

This was something I'd never actually done before. Having to use my powers on such a large scale for so many people was new, and while I knew I could do it, actually doing it was something else entirely. I had to approach this from a new perspective. I took a deep breath, and for the first time negated cause instead of effect when reviving someone.

The difference was instantly noticeable. For one, Leviathan's blood shield was gone and he seemed to be aware again. People were back in the air as if they'd never fallen, no one seemed to remember what had happened because I had made it never happen in the first place. And I knew that would be the outcome, but it was still… Negating "Death" was not the same as negating the event that caused it and I felt stupid for not seeing that before.

"Move!" Wraith shouted, moving away from the block.

I hadn't even noticed the fight had started again. A wave was building, tall as Leviathan himself, then it shot forward. The few cars that remained on the street were swept up along with the debris from the smashed buildings.

Eidolon swept down, apparently switching to a hydrokinesis power to part the wave and slow it down. It bought a bit of time for people to get out of the way, but not much more since Leviathan's own hydrokinesis forced the wave forward. Alexandria came down slammed her fist into the wave, dispersing it. I was actually in awe of the feat, since literally punching water had never crossed my mind.

Leviathan came crashing through a building shortly after, not surprising me, but giving me just enough time to phase through the debris and dodge out of the way. I was wary of phasing through him again after last time. No way was I willing to deal with whatever that was a second time, especially if it meant my team having to cover for my recover time. They were durable enough, but no way did I want them getting smashed the same way Nihilus did.

I did, however, get the chance to charge up a Cero shot as I dodged and fired it straight at Leviathan. His arm twitched as the blast hit him square in the chest before he managed to dodge, avoiding the majority of the damage.

"I got it!" Wraith suddenly shouted. "Boss, your head came near his chest when you phased through him. It's his chest! Aim for the chest!" She shouted.

Leviathan spun, his tail knocking Alexandria away from him as she sped close to him.

"All blasters focus fire on the chest!" Legend shouted, everyone in range complied, aiming exclusively for the specified area even as Leviathan dashed through the concentrated bouts of fire.

Gorgon and Alexandria managed to drop him to the ground, each hitting a leg as he tried to speed through a building. Several blasts hit him in the chest, including a vicious looking one from Eidolon.

"Clear for Miss Militia!" Armsmaster said over the comms.

A moment later several bombs came flying from the top of a building.

Leviathan managed to roll out of the way, using his water to block a few of the bombs, but his foot was trapped by a time stop bomb. He fought, swiping and slashing at everything in his range. Dauntless flew in to attack with his lance thing and I flew in to help only to get caught in the rabid swipe that knocked us both into the time bubble trapping the monsters foot.

_Dauntless deceased, CD-6_

I was surprised it didn't say my name for a moment before realizing I could move normally. I waved my hand, eyes raising at the trippy haze that followed after. I didn't feel any heavier than normal, but moving was slightly slower than usual. Not as thick as water, but close. I snatched Dauntless by his collar and dashed out of the bubble, startling Aegis as she tried to disable Leviathan's free leg.

"Espada, gather on me, full power," I shouted. Leviathan was trapped. No way we'd miss this chance to really hurt him.

They followed my order instantly, even Purity gathered with us as we cut a finger and gathered power for a Cero.

"Concentrate it!" Wraith shouted. "As small as you can make it into a tight beam!"

I was almost surprised as the bright blue light from my chest turned black, but I didn't pay it much mind.

"Fire!" I shouted, not even noticing the several other blasts that fired along side ours. The blast's combined, a single condensed beam of energy formed from six that blasted right through the monster's chest. The blast didn't engulf him, instead refracting through his body like a prism, though I couldn't tell if the beams that bounced out of him were lethal or not.

Leviathan screamed as the attack hit, a high pitched sound that I could only think sounded like his sisters song. A blue mist erupted from him as his trapped leg was severed. His body was smoking as he scrambled for the ocean, his waves smashing harder and harder against Nihilus' shield as his arms slowly dissipated into whatever the mist coming off of him was. Even with his speed it was only a torso that we watched disappear into the ocean.

Everyone was silent for a moment after what had happened, but I was the first to break that silence, a low chuckle breaking from me that slowly built into loud laughter. The others followed after, laughter and cheers following after mine in celebration of what had just happened.

We'd won.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I was trying to avoid boss rush mode. I don't intend for this story to last long enough for it to be a problem, but it would be for the epilogue or however I eventually decide to end this. The bigger problem is Ziz had a few minutes of self awareness while Eidolon was dead. What she decided to set in place with that time will remain to be seen.


	53. Edge 5.6

Despite the fact no one was actually hurt, it was still protocol to have everyone go to the hospital to get checked over. I had figured there would be more emotional damage after everything that had happened but I wasn't exactly worried about that. I wanted to stay and get some headway into fixing all the destruction, but Wraith convinced me to go with everyone to the hospital. When we got there and sat down, all of us ushered to a room by one of the nurses, I realized just how tired I was.

Nihilus, because we were still in costume, passed out the second she hit the bed, Gorgon following very closely after. Grue and Purity just sat in a couple of chairs the closest I had seen them together since Purity had joined. Both seemed to exhausted to really bother keeping up their general dislike of the other, which had mostly been from Grue's side recently. He still didn't trust her, which I understood, so I wasn't going to make him try to get along with her.

"That fucking sucked. Except for Gorgon. That was the hypest shit I've ever seen in my life. But that other stuff was shit," Rhapsody said as he flopped into one of the beds.

"It was the fucking worst," Samael agreed, sitting in a chair and leaning back with a groan.

"I'm not even physically tired, but fuck if my emotions aren't shot to hell," Wraith sighed, taking the last bed. "Speaking of, now would probably be the best time to tell me what the hell happened with Leviathan before the end. I know something is up, but I don't remember anything happening."

I almost instinctively reached for a pack of cigarettes before realizing I didn't have them on me. "Maybe it's a worse habit than I thougth," I said lowly before looking to Wraith. "This doesn't leave us. If you thought old Levi getting stronger was a hit to morale, this will make people give up entirely," I said seriously.

"It can't be that bad," Purity said.

"Sacrosanct can tell time itself to suck a dick. I'm inclined to think that whatever she calls bad would qualify as suicide inducing for the rest of us," Grue said.

"After Gorgon's masterful pile driver—,"

"Izuna Drop," Rhapsody supplied.

"Does it matter?" I asked.

"There are several technical differences between a pile driver and an Izuna Drop that I won't get into right now, but yes, it does."

"Fine," I rolled my eyes, "After Gorgon "Izuna Dropped" Leviathan he stood up even more pissed. I was ready to keep fighting but then he just… He killed everyone."

"What?" Samael asked, disbelief in his voice. "I'm pretty sure I would remember him killing everyone."

"You all died too," I said, making them freeze. "Only Alexandria and I survived, and I have no idea how she did it. He… He ripped the blood out of everyone in a several block range. I heard all your names. Not even Eidolon or Legend survived. I managed to reverse it, make everyone forget but…" I trailed off, not really sure what more to say.

"Oh fuck…" Wraith said, actual fear in her voice. "Oh… Okay, I… Fuck, this is bad. This is worse than bad. I had always wondered if their powers were restricted by the Manton Effect but this… Knowing it's not changes things. He… Even if he isn't he shouldn't have the control to do something like that! He specifically has _Macro_ hydrokinesis. Pulling the water out of someone requires finer control than he should be capable of!"

"Would it matter if he just starts pulling on any water in his range as hard as he can?" Rhapsody asked.

"I… Well apparently not!" Wraith shouted. "This is… We can't let anyone else know about this," She said, shooting a quick "Thanks" over to Rhapsody who apparently hit her with his power to stop her freak out.

"Yeah, you're telling me," I sighed. "It was the first time I'd felt actual fear since I got my power. Today has been a roller coaster of emotions and I was completely unprepared for that."

"Least you're feeling emotions," Rhapsody said casually.

I had nothing to say to that.

"I should be more freaked out about this but… Honestly, I think I'm too tired to care at this point," Grue said. "Give me some food and a nap and I'll scream my lungs off when I don't feel like a dying battery."

"Same," Samael said.

"Ditto," Purity nodded, slumping down in her chair.

I'd already freaked out about it but agreed with their assessment of food and a nap before anymore emotional turmoil for the day. It was only around noon, too, which was just… Perfect.

"Who's the least tired of us right now?" I asked.

"I could stay up for a bit," Rhapsody said, raising his hand.

"Right, well that means you get watch. You handle anyone who tries to come in. Wake me up in like, an hour."

"God dammit," He sighed.

—

Mercifully, I ended up getting two hours of sleep, Wraith decided to let me get more than I asked for. I stood up and stretched and yawned. Purity was awake, keeping watch over everything when I got up. She'd turned her power off at some point and was wearing a domino mask

"So, how are you feeling?" Purity asked.

"Me?" I asked incredulously. "You're the one who had her life destroyed. How have you been?"

She shrugged. "I've been trying to put the pieces back together. It'll be… Difficult, but I'm sure I'll be able to do it."

"For the kids?" I asked.

"Yeah," She nods. "I haven't… I was never much of a mother to Theo, not the way he needed, but he needs one, now more than ever. Especially with everything that happened with his father. And Aster, well, she's my baby. I only want what's best for her. It's only now that I'm realizing that the best thing for her is to turn out more like her brother than her parents. Theo was never the most ambitious or outgoing or anything like that, but he's kind, intelligent, and he never fell into Max's trap." She looks fondly at Samael who's slumped in his chair, then her face twists into a slight frown. "Meanwhile I… I got away from Max because I wanted to raise Aster away from him and I nearly fell back in. If not for you and Theo I'd have been taken down with the Empire. I'd have gotten myself killed for my own emotional failings. Worse, it took me nearly getting Lynched to see exactly how bad I was before."

"Kayden," I sighed lowly. She hadn't spoken about exactly what had happened, but I got shortened version from Theo. It made me feel bad for her more than anything.

She let out a rueful chuckle and shook her head. "What kind of example am I?" She asked. "What the hell was I thinking, trying to raise a daughter when I couldn't even get my own shit together? I'd have fucked her up worse than Max was fucking up Theo. Than I was fucking up Theo. I just… Sometimes it feels like they'd be better off without me."

I was silent for a moment. I didn't want to deal with this. I shouldn't have _had_ to deal with this. But it came with the territory of team leader in some fucked up way. I wasn't really sure what to tell her. The cliche "You can change, stay the course" wouldn't really work and I wasn't sure what else to say. So I had to wing it.

"I've never talked about what led me to this point did I?" I asked.

"Your trigger?" She asked, somewhere between curious and horrified. "You don't— That's deeply personal, I'd never ask you to—,"

"Not that. Never that. Not for a while. But you know my general disposition? Why I'm so jaded? Apathetic? It's not just from the powers."

"So you're just…" She trailed off, trying not to offend.

"Like this, yes," I nodded. "It comes from bullying. I started high school and was immediately set upon by my former best friend, her new best friend, and her," I pointed over to Nihilus, who was still sleeping. Kayden's eyes widened, surprised by that tidbit.

"You're… Working with someone who bullied you?" She asked slowly, trying to wrap her mind around the idea.

"Yeah. And it was bad." My hands shook a bit as I thought about some of the worse things they had put me through. Kayden seemed to have caught on to my unease with ease.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, Taylor," She said gently, motherly. It tore through me, pulling at old wounds deep within me I thought had scarred over by now. But it was probably something that would never go away. The pain of her death. It had never gotten easier, I just got used to living with the pain. That in itself was probably a problem but not one to be dealt with at some point.

"No, I should. Wraith sort of knows and Nihilus was there, but I never told anyone else. It started… Surprisingly tame. Name calling mostly. Maybe some shoves here and there in the hallway. I could deal with that to an extent. The name calling hurt coming from my former best friend but I could deal with it. Getting pushed into lockers or down the last few stairs wasn't too bad either. I could handle that. Then it escalated. Tearing at my reputation and then my grades. Emotional abuse. Being the vicious bitches high school girls can be sometimes. I was never trying to be popular so a reputation wasn't anything. But what did hurt was tearing down my grades. Shattering one of the few things I was proud of. Breaking down the teachers trust in me. Getting accused of making it all up for attention. Juice in my hair, my bag, chair, destroyed art projects, glue in my chair, the other students unwillingness to do anything to help, the fact the teachers knew but didn't care… Using my mothers death against me."

"Taylor…" Kayden said, her tone broke my heart, because it reminded me too much of when my mother was alive. I'd never get close enough to Kayden to consider her a motherly figure, Lacey was more of that than anything, but she had that way of speaking that mothers do that just…

"I lost a lot of faith in humanity over 9th and 10th grade," I continued. "Nearly all of it, really. The apathy really set in by… By the time of… What would have been my trigger event. A few months before at least. It only got worse with the powers. Honestly, the stress was pushing me towards either suicide or a killing spree. The former was more likely. But, I say all that to say, if I can forgive her, you can get your shit together," I said firmly.

"You forgive her?" Kayden sounded perplexed at the idea. "After all of that? I couldn't even… That's…" She stared at me, searching for something in my deadpan look. I was actually as surprised by my words as she was, but I wasn't going to let her know that. "Okay, I see what you mean," She sighed after a moment.

"Good," I nodded, standing up. "Now, I'll be right back because I really need a smoke."

—

I was only gone for a few minutes but Nihilus was awake when I got back and there was food in the room. Not much, mostly snack foods, but food nonetheless. I grabbed a packet of Animal Crackers and a bottle of water and tapped Nihilus, motioning for her to come with me. She nodded, shakily getting to her feet and grabbing her own snacks and following me.

It was a little past two now and the hospital was still pretty busy. Nurses were bouncing around and trying to check over everyone they hadn't gotten to yet. I knew it was pointless but it was probably still better to be safe than sorry.

The looks we got as we walked through the hospital halls was… different. Some people, well, most people, looked at us with awe and admiration. There were other emotions mixed in, fear, derision, glee, it really depended on what side they were on and what they'd heard of us. I didn't pay it much mind but it seemed to be getting to Nihilus. She probably wasn't used to people staring at her so hard unless it was for her body or something.

We finished the walk up to the roof in silence and I phased us through the locked door. Our feet crunched across the roof as we walked over to a place to sit, on the top of some vents in the middle of the roof. I pulled my smokes out, an off color pink box that read "Sakura" across the front, and took my mask off. Normally I wouldn't do something so reckless but everyone was inside the hospital anyway so it wasn't a big deal. And I could brink it back just as fast if anyone came out.

I pulled one out with my fingers instead of my mouth like usual and offered the box to Madison. She looked at me, wide eyed for a moment, before gingerly taking one. I flipped the box close and snapped, lighting my own then offering to light hers, which she gratefully accepted. It was a few moments of sorting my thoughts before I realized I had no idea how to have the conversation we were about to, let alone how to start it, so I just said what came to mind.

"When this all started, I didn't think I'd ever forgive you for what you helped put me through," I started, making her snap her head to look at me. Her eyes were wide and it almost looked like she wanted to cry. "But…" I shrugged, not really sure how to word it. "I did. You've grown on me and… Well… Even if I hadn't forgiven you before today, taking a hit from an Endbringer for me has to count for something."

Her mouth was open, just wide enough that she didn't drop her cigarette but still wide enough to show how shocked she was.

"Taylor…" She said.

"I realized when you got hit that I actually care about you. There was actual worry in me when I realized you'd taken that hit for me. I was relieved to see you were okay. It was… The first time in a while I was actually scared for another person in a while. So… Yeah," I shrugged. "I forgive you and… I think I can call us—," I didn't get to finish my sentence as Madison hugged me, shaking with silent tears. I rolled my eyes and wrapped my left arm around her shoulders, returning the hug.

"I… I'm so happy," She smiled. I knew she did even if I could see her face. "You have no idea how long… How much it means… To have…" She can't even string together a coherent sentence through her crying, but I don't bother moving her. When she's finally done she's pointing a beaming smile at me. One that feels genuine. "I don't… I don't want to make it seem like I was only out to get you to forgive me so I don't know how to word this, but… I'm glad we're friends now, Taylor."

"Yeah, yeah," I stood with a small smile, popping my back as I stretched. "We can tell our kids about it when we get older."

"You… Wanna have kids with me?" She asked, her voice now showing more intrigue at the idea than anything else.

"Huh?" I asked dumbly. "No," I said when I realized what she thought I said. "That's not what I meant. I'm not… No. I meant when we each have families of our own. If you want a wife, I hope you find a good one, but it won't be me."

"Aw, but I'd love to be able to doll you up!" She chirped. I couldn't tell how much of that was a joke, but I rolled my eyes and sat back down.

"Shut up, nerd. What'd you get in your animal crackers?" I asked, tearing my bag open.

She didn't answer as she pulled her bag open and we mostly sat in silence as we ate, trading cookies every so often. As I looked out over the city, a small bit of nostalgia washed over me.

"This reminds me of when I was a little girl," I said lowly.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"When I was a kid my mom used to take me and Emma to this park by Captain's Hill. The one with the really big hill on it."

"I know that one!" She snapped. "People go there to work out."

"That's the one," I nodded as I bit the head off an elephant cookie. "Mom would take us up there and make us lunch and we'd play until it was time to eat and just… Do this," I said, gesturing in front of us. "Sit and look out over the city while we ate. Seeing only the good in the world." I took a sip of water and sighed a the memory. It was tainted now. Too much grief and anger involved at this point despite the fact it was only four years ago. "I remember I used to want to be grown up so mom would always make me the same drink as hers. Earl Grey, two sugars, no cream. I still drink it that way. It's one of the ways I take after my mom instead of my dad. He prefers coffee."

"Do you… Want to go? To the park I mean? When we're done cleaning and all that?"

"Yeah," I nodded after a moment. "You done?" I ask, downing the last of my water along with a sheep cookie.

"Yup," She nodded as she shoved the last third of her bag in her mouth and washed it down with water.

"Let's get back to the others," I said, putting my mask back on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I had this conversation between Taylor and Madison in my head for a long time. Almost as long as I've been writing this story. Especially the kids line. I almost saved it for next chapter but decided it was better to just leave it here.


	54. Scrap 6.1

Healing was never a therapeutic process. It was a process wracked with worry and self doubt no matter how many times Amy did it. There was always the worry in the back of her head that she would somehow make a huge mistake despite her instinctive knowledge of the human body. There was always the fear she'd give in to a deeply buried desire to… experiment. Every single time she touched another person she had to consciously hold back the urge to upgrade or alter them in some way. And every single time it got a little bit harder to hold back.

When she first started healing it was nothing. The urge wasn't there at all. But the more she did the greater the urge got. To do something different. The more people she saved the bigger the pain that she couldn't save everyone. The heavier the weight got. It was a death by degrees that had led her to this point. Her fear of being seen in the same league as monsters like Bonesaw and Nilbog. Her self doubt spurred by the woman who was supposed to be her mother and her love of the woman who she should have seen as a sister.

Since the first night she'd met Sacrosanct the urge hadn't been as prevalent. It was still there, but she could mostly ignore it. It was a more than welcome change. In fact, she felt herself actually happy with just the happiness and thanks of the people she helped, something that she hadn't felt since she first started. Yet today the thoughts to experiment were back with a violent force. Maybe it was the fact her emotions were still running high from hearing her family had died but with every healthy person she touched she felt a tinge of anger that she was wasting her time when there were people she could actually be helping. She felt the urge to want to do something… different.

One of the more senior nurses, Rose, must have been able to tell she was getting frustrated or that she wasn't up for doing diagnostics because she made her take a break. She was hesitant to go considering how many more people they had to check, but they had forced her hand, threatening to ban her from the hospital for a week if she didn't take a break. Which now saw Amy curled up in one of the call rooms of the hospital waiting for when she had to go back out and run more diagnostics. Her regular hero robe and scarf were thrown on the bed next to her as she stared down at the white skull mask in her hand.

She found it ironic that her mask was a skull. She was a healer. Her power set was explicitly for helping people. Yet her mask was so blatantly a symbol of death. It didn't really help that she often felt like just dying. It would have been easier than dealing with the trash fire her life had become since Vicky had tried her intervention.

Her thoughts slipped back to her sister for just a moment before she pulled them back. She'd have to go see her family soon, probably after her forced break was over, but she didn't want to think about them. She hadn't seen Vicky since she'd accidentally professed her less than sisterly love for her and she was… not looking forward to that. Not in the slightest.

"Why am I like this?" She sighed, dropping the mask to her side and holding her head in her hands. More than once she'd decried her sexuality but she was never sure if it was specifically because of her attraction to her sister or not. There were a lot of reasons she hated herself for not being "Normal" but that was the biggest and she didn't know if it was the social taboo of who she was most attracted to, the fear of retribution from Carol and possibly the people at school, or just that liking girls made her feel more "other" than she already did.

"Stop it," She snapped at herself. She wasn't supposed to be thinking about that. Like that. Vicky had told her more than once to stop being so hard on herself and it wasn't like she could change her sexuality. Now wasn't the time to worry about it. She was supposed to be thinking about the Espada and her possible place with them. They were villains. Or at least that was how they tended to be painted since the thing with Canary. In truth, looking them objectively, they were closer to vigilantes, not that the PRT cared to distinguish since they weren't affiliated with them. They'd taken out the Merchants and the Empire, making the city significantly safer. Sacrosanct was working on creating a homeless shelter and regularly helped clean up the aftermath of large attacks. They'd tried to help at the bank robbery. Samael and Nihilus regularly patrolled parts of the city and stopped criminals.

But on the other side they were probably involved in the robbery if Grue and Hellhound being on their team was anything to go by. They were rumored to have worked with the villains to stop Bakuda, thought hat wasn't entirely bad considering what she'd been doing to the city. They were working with Purity. There were rumors they'd co-opted a Ward. They were trying to take over the criminal underground of the city and had even claimed territory. They'd broken Canary out of jail.

She focused on that last one for a moment. Canary was supposed to go to the Birdcage for what had happened with her boyfriend. Even if it was completely accidental her powers were horrifying. And now they had access to that power. But… She couldn't help but sympathize. Her biggest fear, more than anything she'd revealed to Vicky, was the public finding out the true nature of her power. She knew, beyond any doubt, that she'd be shipped right off to the Birdcage for something like that. They might give her a chance or two, but the moment she screwed up it was Brute restraints and one way ticket to hell on Earth. If she were in Canary's position she'd more than welcome the save. She couldn't honestly decry them for saving someone who didn't honestly deserve to go to the Birdcage. Especially not when she'd protected Vicky from the consequences of her actions for so long, accidental as they may have been most of the time... Sometimes.

She eyed the tattoo on the inside of her right forearm with a mix of frustration and longing. She couldn't tell if things would have been better if she'd never gotten that thing. Maybe things would have turned out alright if she didn't have to worry about being associated with them the second anyone saw the tattoo. She momentarily mourned the fact she could no longer wear short sleeves. On the other hand… The Espada seemed… Nice. Like a family. Aunt Sarah's was nice and her side of the family was just as supportive as Vicky without being overbearing but she was worried about being a nuisance. She was sure she'd have to talk with them at some point but it was… The Espada seemed like the better place to be herself without judgment.

"Panacea?" Rose asked, knocking on the door. "You think you're ready to continue?"

Amy looked down at the bed for a moment, hands wringing in worry and anticipation. She didn't want to check on the rest of New Wave, not now, but she felt the longer she put it off the worst it would get.

"Yeah," She said, sending the mask away as she stood up and put her robe and scarf back on.

—

Amy stood outside the room they'd given to her family, an empty cup of coffee in one hand and a stress ball squeezed tightly in the other. She knew she probably looked insane to anyone passing by but she was nervous and the stress ball and coffee were only doing so much to help her relax. The fear she felt at the idea of seeing Vicky again after so long, of talking to Carol about what had happened…

"Dammit," She sighed, realizing the stress ball had given way, essentially bursting in her hand under the pressure. She was about to go ask for another, or six, because there was no way she was sitting in a talk with Carol without something to help her manage the overwhelming sensation of terror that usually came with dealing with an angry Carol, when she felt a wave of… something wash over her. It was warm and comforting and made her feel—.

"Amy!" Vicky said, flying over to her sister and pulling her into a tight hug above the ground.

She didn't fight the hug, both because she welcomed it and because she didn't want to be dropped, but she wasn't entirely comfortable. She realized that the warm feeling was from Vicky. From her Aura. And more than that it made her feel… Love. The type of love she was ashamed of. Her face twisted in confusion as she tried to puzzle out what was happening to her.

"Vicky," She said softly, "Aura."

"Oh! Sorry!" She said quickly putting Amy back on the ground.

The difference was immediate and striking. It was still there, but not as strong. She still felt warm but not nearly as warm. She still felt love but… It wasn't as strong. Nowhere near what it was in that moment where she'd caught the elated look on her sisters face. She realized, with some confusion, that feeling the aura again had felt good. Really good. It was like getting to snuggle back into a warm bed after being out on a snowy winter morning. It was a feeling she found, with some horror, that she'd missed.

When she was staying with her aunt, she hadn't had any contact with her sister. While she was there she'd felt different. She'd found, thinking on it now, that her feelings weren't nearly as intense. She still loved her sister, but there was no devotion to it. She was still attracted to her but there was no _love_. She didn't get butterflies at the mere thought of her. She didn't get that schoolgirl giddiness that she'd associated with being around her for so long. The feelings were there but not nearly as strong. She'd realized, only now that she had the blanket that was Vicky's aura back, that she'd felt cold until now. That the world was dimmer without her sisters influence and that every time she was away from her that was what she'd felt. Cold.

It put things in perspective. A horrifying perspective, but still. She began rethinking everything, even with the growing feeling of warmth she was able to focus on just how… Devoted, she'd been to her sister. Letting a lot of things go that she shouldn't have. Barely putting up a fight against things she wouldn't have let anyone else convince her to do. The sheer jealousy she'd had for Gallant. Not that it wasn't normal to feel jealous that someone was with the person you wanted to be with but that was… just plain unhealthy. Thinking about killing someone out of jealousy wasn't normal at all and the thought had crossed her mind more than once, even if she'd never really entertained it.

"Aura," She said, snapping back to her sister once she'd felt the warmth get too much to bear.

"Sorry!" Vicky apologized again. "You weren't listening to me. Are you… Okay now?" She asked awkwardly.

Amy didn't know how to answer that question. Not when her world had essentially been turned on it's head and shaken for all the cash in its pockets.

"I… I need to go," Amy said slowly as she started backing away. She noticed the look of worry and sadness on her sisters face and she almost stayed until she realized she was being influenced again. "We'll talk later," She offered as she took off in the opposite direction from her sister.

She had to get away from her. Away from her aura. Away from the feelings and the revelations and everything. She couldn't be near her sister and she had to be anywhere else in the world but there.

"Hey!" She heard a familiar warble call out to her. She stopped, looking around to find Sacrosanct and Nihilus walking together.

"You okay?" Nihilus asked gently.

"No… I… I just…" She struggled to hold back the flood of tears that threatened to start down her face. Her throat hurt from trying to keep from crying and her breathing was ragged. "Is it okay if I stay with you for a bit?" She choked.

The two looked at one another for a moment and nodded, helping her to their room.

It was only as the two helped her through the halls, when she didn't feel so high strung, that she realized the stress ball in her hand had turned to ash.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: This chapter was a bit harder to write than I was expecting. I was originally going to have her start talking to her family then freak out at Vicky's aura, partially disintegrate her chair, then take off, leaving everyone in New Wave kind of freaked out. I figured it would be better if it was only Vicky that saw the little freak out. Amy is also another character I find difficult to write at times since I want to avoid leaning into fanon. Also, chapter is late cause my apartment was getting renovations and I didn't have my laptop Friday and this chapter required some rewrites.


	55. Scrap 6.2

"I don't know if that was a resounding success or an absolute disaster," Alexandria sighed as she sat with Legend and Eidolon. They had excused themselves and used Doormaker to get a few minutes to talk about what had happened. Alexandria herself was still reeling from Leviathan's little horror show. She wasn't sure how to tell them. If she wanted to tell them. They wouldn't take the news well, she sure as hell hadn't, but it was probably better to wait until things calmed down.

"Well, no one died," Legend said, and she was glad she had more control over her actions than to flinch. "That has to count for something, at least." Keith was always the optimistic one.

"Yeah, thanks to Sacrosanct," She sighed. "Piggot's report on the Espada was bare bones at best and doesn't even touch the surface of what they can do. They all have so many powers they might as well be classified as Trumps."

"Do you know what her powers are?" Eidolon asked.

"Not in particular. I haven't had the chance to bring her up to Contessa yet so we don't have much on her other than the PRT report from Piggot."

"What do we know about them?" Legend asked.

"We know they all seem to fall into the "Alexandria Package" for the most part." It was flattering that she had a whole subset of powers named after her. It wasn't something she ever had time to dwell on, being in the position she was in, but sometimes, it put a smile on her face. "They don't so much fly as they walk on air. They have extremely high durability, extremely powerful blasts, and their own subset of powers each."

"It's like someone rolled all of us into one power set and gave it to a bunch of teens," Eidolon scoffed. David was never the most confident, even after getting his powers. The fact a bunch of teens had a power set that seemed like it could rival his, if not all of them, on the surface definitely wasn't doing much to make him feel good about himself.

"Which is why we need them on our side," She said. Legend nodded and Eidolon gave a huff of approval. He'd get over it in a few hours as long as nothing went south. "The Espada took down Lung with relative ease, continued helping fix damage done by Bakuda's bombs, more than likely helped take out Bakuda herself, steamrolled the Merchants, the Empire, and are the reason we've come away from an Endbringer fight with nothing but property damage to show for it. Wraith even found Leviathan's weak spot. If all of them have a weak point she can find we can end fights far faster than before with fewer losses."

"You don't need to explain why we need them," Eidolon sighed. "It's more than apparent with how strong they are. The question is how we bring them in."

"As much as I'd like to, the PRT doesn't seem to be an option," Legend said. And that's rare for him. He usually prefers that Capes, especially young ones, join the PRT. "If they wanted to join, they would have. And we can't use the usual arguments to get them to join. No matter how we approach them the PRT isn't the way to do it. Not unless it's through affiliation like New Wave."

"I don't think they'd even want that. Didn't they break that Canary girl out of a Birdcage transport?" Eidolon asked.

"They did," Alexandria sighed. That made this tougher because at least one of them would likely see that some strings were pulled to get her sent there. Not many, but more than a few. Despite how deeply Capes had been ingrained into society, how normalized they were, it never failed to surprise her how easy it was for normals to harbor incredible amounts of scorn for them. Piggot and Tagg worked with Capes regularly and never made their dislike of them a secret. Getting a Master of Canary's caliber locked up was as easy as a few phone calls. Not even any favors.

"So do we approach them as Cauldron or…" Legend trailed off. There weren't any more options than that. PRT affiliation or Cauldron affiliation.

"They seem to prefer operating in the dark. Up until the thing with the Empire we thought they only had three members. Now they have more than six. Cauldron would be the way to go, if you can convince them it's for a good cause. Though they strike me as the… idealistic type. Unwilling to make compromised that are for the greater good." Eidolon wasn't disparaging them, Legend was the same way and they had to keep him out of the loop on certain things because of it, but he didn't sound happy about that either.

"What makes you say that?" Alexandria asked.

"Specifically the Canary situation."

"Well, we won't know until we talk to them. And we should be getting back anyway," Legend said.

"I guess we should get this out of the way as soon as possible," Alexandria sighed. "Am I doing this alone?"

"I'll come with you," Eidolon said. "You should probably go give one of your speeches, Keith," He pats the other man on the shoulder and his tone is joking. A rare thing from David, but nice to see every so often.

"I will," Legend said, his voice just as jovial.

"Door," Alexandria called, and they stepped back through to the hospital.

Legend split off and they have to ask a nurse how to get to the room the Espada are in. It's in some corner of the hospital, as secluded as they could make it despite everyone that was there.

She nearly knocked on the door when she caught a few words from inside. She can't tell who but it sounds like one of them is trying to console one of the others. She didn't bother waiting for them to finish and knocked. There was a moment of silence then the door clicked open. A boy with black hair opened the door and his mask reminds her vaguely of a jester. His name is Rhapsody, if she heard right through the fray of battle.

"Hello," She said politely.

He looked blankly at her for a moment before putting up a finger to tell her to wait and closed the door. David snorted quietly from her left and she can't decide if she's impressed or annoyed by the action. She actually heard the words from inside this time, one of them asking how he could be so stupid as to close the door on her, before it clicked open again.

"Alexandria, Eidolon," Sacrosanct greeted. She picked up a few things in the moment when she opened the door, but the most pressing as that the girl, who couldn't be more than fifteen, smelled of cigarettes. That bothered her, just for the moment, before she packed it away for later.

"We'd like to speak with you," She said.

"About…" She faltered, glancing back at her team. "All of us or just the ones in charge?"

"Those of you in charge. And somewhere private."

Sacrosanct nodded and called "Wraith, Nihilus, Samael, we've got business."

Alexandria couldn't help but notice the switch in her tone. From tired teen to commander. It was nearly enough to draw a smile from her. And the next moment she was glad for her emotional control when Wraith opened a gaping maw in the air with a drag of her finger. Reality split at the seems to show jagged teeth opening to a deep black abyss.

"It's safe," The girl said as she looked back at her. "It's just the only way to get to our base. There's no where in the universe more private."

Alexandria doubted the claim, but motioned for Eidolon to go with it. The portal snapped shut behind them, leaving them in the abyss, though the Espada don't seem to see anything wrong with the endless darkness.

"What happens if someone falls off?" Eidolon asked.

"Don't know," Sacrosanct shrugged. "I'm not sure you can fall off. But I wouldn't want to try." The casual way the words left her mouth would probably be disturbing to anyone else.

Another portal snapped open in front of them and they stepped through into a room with black stone floors and a dark sky full of stars with a purple tint. As she looked around, Alexandria was willing to say Wraith's assessment of their base may have been accurate.

"Welcome to Las Noches," Sacrosanct said, arms spread grandly even as the thrones shifted and a table formed in the middle of the room. Wraith grabbed two chairs that had been set aside with a few other and offers them on the opposite side of the table. They sat, because there wasn't really much they could do at that point.

Alexandria noticed, though it wasn't hard to, that only the seats two, four, and six were unoccupied. One and Seven were easy to see, though she couldn't quite tell which of the other two girls were numbered Three and Five. Whether the numbers were a measure of power or not had remained to be seen, but it wouldn't be a hard conclusion to draw, which was why she didn't jump on it.

"The night?" Eidolon asked.

"We already had a Spanish theme, so it fit," Wraith shrugged.

"I guess so."

"So, to what do we owe the pleasure?" Sacrosanct asked.

"Straight to the point. I'm glad we won't have to waste time. However, this information can't leave this room," Alexandria said. The four look at one another and nod. That's confirmation enough. "The world is in danger from a threat that humanity can't handle. Not unless every Cape bands together to fight it. And even then, the chances seem slim. And I'm not talking about the Endbringers."

"There's something worse than Endbringers out there?" Samael asked, disbelief in his voice.

"The things that made the Endbringers," Eidolon said.

"Holy shit," Nihilus whispered.

"Exactly."

"We're trying to create a situation in which humanity stands to survive this threat. Maybe not on this Earth, but on the others," Alexandria continued. "And we need more and stronger Capes for that. So, we think your group would be perfect to help. Not necessarily in the planning, but being in the know of the threat. So when the time comes we're all better prepared to fight it."

"And what's the threat?" Sacrosanct asked. Her voice isn't one of disbelief, but she's skeptical.

"Scion."

The four are quiet at that.

"Scion?" She asked.

"The greatest hero on Earth?" Nihilus asked.

"The Golden Man himself?" Samael asked.

"That's the threat to humanity?" Sacrosanct finished.

"Yes. It's difficult to explain but Scion is simply a projection made to look human. It's real body is a lot more grotesque. It's interdimensional but we estimate if it's mass was gathered in one universe it would be a few dozen times the mass of Earth itself. At least as large as the sun."

"You're not…" Wraith's breath hitched as she took it all in. "You're not joking. Scion is really going to kill humanity."

"Not just all life on Earth Bet, all life on every iteration of Earth. Aleph and Bet are just two small grains of sand by comparison to how big the threat really is."

"Jesus Christ," Sacrosanct sighed, her voice a dull drone even through the odd warble effect. She rubbed the side of her head in exasperation. "And, what, you want us to join your secret super Illuminati?"

"Not in so many words, but yes," Eidolon nodded.

"Of course, you'll be provided incentives to not only work with us but to keep this a secret," Alexandria cut in. "Your strength, the power of all of you, is too great to let slip by. We need you on our side when the time comes, no matter what. We've never had an Endbringer fight end so cleanly. Whatever it takes to get you on our side without having to fight. If we can provide it for you, we will. That's how serious we are about this."

"I think…" Sacrosanct sighed. "I think we're going to need a bit more proof than this. Not that I don't trust you but—,"

"What we say sounds insane. I under stand." She stood and called for a door, though nothing happened.

"We're going to have to leave before stuff like that works," Sacrosanct snapped and the same portal as before snapped open.

The portal let them out on the roof of the hospital this time and another portal opens, from Doormaker this time, and they step through.

"I think I might puke," Samael said calmly as they stepped into the Garden of Flesh.

The silver and blue limbs that form a trail up to Eden's body are overwhelming the first time, and it never really gets easier, but it's not as difficult to stomach. Hills and high grass made from malformed limbs and far-too-long-fingers, and faces and legs and body parts everywhere.

"This is absolutely horrifying," Wraith said quietly.

"It's like something out of Lovecraft," Sacrosanct whispered.

"What if I told you that's not a far off assessment?" Alexandria answered. "These things might as well be Elder Gods. They jump, planet to planet, infecting the natural species with powers before killing them all and moving on to the next. This one, The Thinker, is dead. Mostly. It's inactive and that's the best we can hope for at the moment. But Scion… he's a ticking time bomb. We don't know when exactly he'll go off, which is why we're trying to gather as much force as we can. Largely through the PRT."

That admission seemed to spark something in Sacrosanct if the way her head snapped up was anything to go by, and Alexandria learned a lot from that alone, largely that the girl already had some distrust in the PRT before this, and that probably didn't help.

"I think…" The girl trailed off, her eyes far away and looking directly at the knife lodged in the nearly complete body's throat. "I think we need time to think about this. We won't tell anyone but give us a few days to answer."

"That's reasonable," Alexandria sighed. "Door to Brockton Bay General."

The four step through without a word and the portal closed behind them.

"That could have gone better," Eidolon said from behind her.

"It could have gone a lot worse too."

"What do you think?"

"They're hard to read. Nihilus especially. We should get their info to Contessa as soon as we can. She should be able to help."

"And if they don't join after all this?"

"They will. Sacrosanct strikes me as the type of person who'd want to be involved in this sort of thing."

"I hope you're right."

"I am."

As they leave, Alexandria thinks over what she managed to gain from the meeting. The Espada are different. Their powers, at least some of them, don't seem tied to Agents. And that kind of asset can't be allowed to run free. Not with so much at stake. They don't have a choice but to join.


	56. Scrap 6.3

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**Topic: Brockton Bay Endbringer Attack**   
**In: Boards ► News ► Events ► America**

**Bagrat** (Original Poster) (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)  
Posted on May 16, 2011:

So I'm sure everyone knows by now Leviathan hit Brockton Bay yesterday and, considering the city hasn't sunk, the defense was a success. What's weird though is that there hasn't been any real news about how everything went down. Usually we would have had a few recordings or something by now, the PRT hasn't been shy in talking about these attacks before, so something must have changed for them to be radio silent except their "We won" speech.

Even my usual contacts don't know much more than that. So, I'll list off the facts and we'll see if we can figure it out from there.

1) The defense was a success and Leviathan was driven off.

2) Somehow, there were no deaths. This is the part that really confuses me because they'd usually be happy to explain how that happened.

3) There was less damage then a normal attack.

4) The city seems to be completely back to normal now, even with the minimal damage.

I don't really know what's been going on there, but if it has something to do with some new Capes, I can't see it not being big news. Anyone have any info they can share?

**(Showing Page 15 of 100)**

► **Dead-Letter**  
Replied on May 16, 2011:  
So you guys really haven't heard of the Espada? They're pretty much all we've been talking about for weeks here in the Bay.

► **Pictochat33**  
Replied on May 16, 2011:  
Their wiki page is pretty sparse. Are you sure they're responsible for this? And if they are, that's pretty huge.

► **White Shadow**  
Replied on May 16, 2011:  
Oh, it's definitely because of them. They've been involved in a lot of big events since they showed up. Took out the E88 basically by themselves a few weeks ago. Their original three members took out Lung their first night out. They're nothing to scoff at.

► **W!sh_Master**  
Replied on May 16, 2011:  
Yeah, looking into it, they've been involved in pretty much every major problem in Brockton Bay since their debut. The ABB, The Empire, A bank robbery, they've been busy. If that's the case I could see them being major players in this.

► **QuadSword** (Verified PRT Agent)  
Replied on May 16, 2011:  
Oh, having seen the Espada in action, I fully believe they're the reason things turned out so well. They've been causing an uproar at base for a while. Since their debut, in fact. The Director isn't exactly happy they aren't Wards. I, however, am very glad we don't have to deal with them.

► **Nihilus**  
Replied on May 16, 2011:  
Quadsword (Verified PRT Agent)  
That's mean. We're not that bad. Well, Rhapsody is. The rest of us are alright.

► **Lazmer**  
Replied on May 16, 2011:  
Wha- Holy shit. Is this really Nihilus?

► **VioletRadiantBookworm**  
Replied on May 16, 2011:  
Nihilus  
If you're really Nihilus can you give us some info on what happened? The PRT is being really stingy with info.

► **ToxicSnake**  
Replied on May 16, 2011:  
No way that's the real one. Don't feed the trolls.

► **Pharaoh Luna Lou** (Cape Groupie)  
Replied on May 16, 2011:  
Please for the love of God be the real Nihilus.

**End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 ... 98 , 99, 100**

**(Showing Page 16 of 100)**

► **Nihilus**  
Replied on May 16, 2011:  
Pharaoh Luna Lou (Cape Groupie)  
I'm the real one.

VioletRadiantBookworm  
Sure.

Things only went so smooth because of my and Sacrosancts powers. One of my powers let me block out all the rain and water, so Leviathan could only work with what he could pull from the pipes in the buildings. It really pissed him off because he was out for blood for basically the entire fight. Sacrosanct was able to keep people from dying, which is why there weren't any casualties. Gorgon Izuna dropped Leviathan at one point too then we blasted him in the core so hard he started smoking and ran away.

► **White Shadow**  
Replied on May 16, 2011:  
Holy shit. That's actually insane! He started smoking? Like the water evaporated from the blast?

► **Some1mportant** (Moderator)  
Replied on May 16, 2011:  
Wait, one of your powers? Are you a grab bag or something?

► **King of Destruction**  
Replied on May 16, 2011:  
Lol, Leviathan got Izuna dropped! That's the best! Is Gorgon a new member? I can't see her page. Who are all your members?

► **Celstial**  
Replied on May 16, 2011:  
What's an Izuna Drop?

► **AncientCompass**  
Replied on May 16, 2011:  
Celestial  
It's a type of flyiing suplex. Knock the enemy into the air, grab them from behind, spin, slam them head first into the ground.

► **Celestial**  
Replied on May 16, 2011:  
AncientCompass  
Then why not say that? It's just a suplex.

► **Davivid**  
Replied on May 16, 2011:  
Celestial  
Heresy. The Izuna Drop is not just another suplex. It's the ninja staple in games. To pull something like that off in real life, especially on Leviathan, is godlike. Praise Gorgon, Queen of the Izune Drop.

► **ShiningVision**  
Replied on May 16, 2011:  
Can we get back to the topic of the thread? Do you have any more info for us, Nihulus? Anyone who can back you up here?

► **UnearthlyExistence**  
Replied on May 16, 2011:  
Yeah, I'm gonna need some more details. What happened with Leviathan smoking? Do you know what the deal with that was?

**End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 ... 98 , 99, 100**

**(Showing Page 17 of 100)**

► **Lightninghat**  
Replied on May 16, 2011:  
If that's really an Espada member, more info would definitely be appreciated.

► **Assault** (Verified Cape) (Protectorate ENE)  
Replied on May 16, 2011:  
I probably shouldn't be posting here but I can back up what Nihilus is saying. Battery and I spent most of our time trying to help other people get to safety after things really kicked off. She put up a field that blocked out the rain and waves and that made the fight that much easier. Sacrosanct would point her guns at dead or downed Capes and they'd just be up like nothing happened. I'm not trying to discount everyone who helped, but the Espada by far helped the most. Shame they don't want to join the Wards. They'd do a lot of good.

► **ToxicSnake**  
Replied on May 16, 2011:  
Well if Assault is here to confirm it, I can't exactly be skeptical anymore.

► **Dead-Letter**  
Replied on May 16, 2011:  
ToxicSnake  
Someone admitting they were wrong on the internet. A rarity.

► **ToxicSnake**  
Replied on May 16, 2011:  
Dead-Letter  
Screw off. Despite the name I'm not like Void Cowboy.

► **Nihilus**  
Replied on May 16, 2011:  
Some1mportant  
Something like that.

King of Destruction  
Sacrosanct says it's fine, so all our core members are Sacrosanct as leader, Me, Samael, Wraith, Rhapsody, and Gorgon. Auxilary members are Purity, Grue, Bitch, Squealer, and Canary. No point in hiding that since people already saw us with them, Sacrosanct says. We're basically trying to give them a chance to not be villains. Purity especially has turned it around.

Davivid  
Rhapsody said the same thing. You'd probably get along with him.

ShiningVision  
I think the smoke was his skin since it shined in sunlight. We hit him so hard he started disolving or something. We don't know if he's dead and won't for a while, but at least we know where and how to hit him if he shows up again.

There's not much more info to give than that. Everyone made it out alright and the city is in perfect shape because of Sacrosanct. We're basically just going to be starting on our other projects, which are clearing out the Boat Graveyard and Sacrosanct starting a homeless shelter.

Assault  
Thanks for the back up. Sorry, but there's a bit too much red tape involved with joining the Wards.

► **ViolentCalm**  
Replied on May 16, 2011:  
I'm sorry, but what the fuck, Nihilus? You dropped a bit too much info in that post to wrap my head around. You let villains join to help them not be villains and you have members doing humanitarian work?

► **GunforHire202**  
Replied on May 16, 2011:  
Honestly there are probably more confusing things going on in the world than this.

► **Assault** (Verified Cape) (Protectorate ENE)  
Replied on May 16, 2011:  
I didn't know about Squealer, but I did see them with Grue and Purity at the pre-fight meeting. Canary was kind of a given considering they broke her out of PRT transport a few weeks ago.

► **QuadSword** (Verified PRT Agent)  
Replied on May 16, 2011:  
And now you see why we have them classified as "Vigilante" instead of "Villain". We're supposed to go after the former the same as the latter, but not only are the Espada a bit too strong for that, they also do genuinely help the city.

It's really kind of a headache.

**End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 ... 98 , 99, 100**


End file.
